The last day of the World Travel Market In London it was opened by the Minister of Tourism, Marian Canowith an announcement: Turisme will increase its budget for gastronomic promotion by 36%. The global amount will thus rise to 3 million euros, which places this attraction as a priority in the messages of dissemination and identification of destinations in the Valencian Community.
“One out of every three tourists who choose us do so based on our gastronomy,” stressed the head of Tourism. In the argument, important issues such as the fact of having 33 Michelin Stars or 65 Repsol Suns and of course, “our traditional cuisine restaurants. They will be actions both nationally and internationally,” he added.
Faced with this incontestable reality, the announcement has occurred in a context of political uncertainty that, without a doubt, will disrupt the usual budget approval schedule of the Generalitat Valenciana for 2026. In fact, the current ones have been in force since April. “He president Mazon It has made all the departments work on time to prepare our budget; That is why we are giving these figures. “We are going to let the weeks pass and we are going to see,” he commented on the management of this budget increase.
Furthermore, he added that “we must also take into account that, within the mobility of the items. The truth is that we come from a budget that “we just approved”the counselor recalled. Cano has reiterated that “we are working with this until the end of the year and, as I have mentioned, our objective in 2026 is to be able to allocate that 36% to 'EXQUISITE MEDITERRANEAN' which we know will be positive for the Community”.
Foreign market
Among the main milestones, the Minister of Tourism recalled that, during this year “We have carried out, in addition to last night in London, others in Berlin or Montreal, very interesting for the Canadian public,” he explained. The initiative in this foreign market is linked to the direct connection from the Valencia airport. “We have projects to carry out specific actions in different areas of the world.”
Marián Cano greeted the teams from the destinations that traveled to London, such as Benidorm. / A. Jover
On the other hand, Cano has confirmed that the chefs, like the people of Alicante who yesterday participated in the creation of a menu with local products. “Of course we are going to rely on our chefs, as they always give extra value to the promotional action, so our collaboration with them is important.” Regarding possible objectives, the regional manager has announced that the actions will be defined soon.
Regarding the concern that British tour operators and agencies have expressed these days about the possible tax increase in BritainMarián Cano has assured that “obviously for tourism, the disposable income of families is key. Something that I will tell you is very worrying in Spain, where, as you have seen in the analysis carried out by the European Union, that of Spanish families is the one that has grown the least in recent years.” In this sense, he assured that Turisme will “work with the tour operators, the airlines and others to see what the situation is, what the response of the British market is.”
Nearly 400 professional meetings during WTM
Regarding the balance of the three professional days of this edition of the London World Travel Market 2025 fair, it is worth noting that close to 400 meetings. Turisme Comunitat Valenciana has participated this year with more exhibition space than ever with its own stand of 397 square meters, 70 meters more surface than in 2024, where the entire tourist offer has been shown.
In the space of the Generalitat Valenciana they have participated more than 30 destinations and companies from the Valencian Community, specifically 25 co-exhibitors attended, including associations, city councils, companies and tourism entities from the Valencian Community. In addition, the seven tourist brands of the Community have been represented, with the assistance of Turismo de Castellón, Visit Valencia, Valencia Turisme, Visit Benidorm, Costa Blanca, Alicante and Elche.
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