The regional vice-president inaugurated this morning the Galician Week in the Expo of Zaragoza.
He underscored the role of water as a “differentiating element” of Galicia’s Tourist attractions and as a quality asset for the promotion of Galicia abroad.
He assessed Galicia’s presence in the Expo as the great promotional “portico” of the Xacobeo 2010, for the preparation of which 141.4 million euros have been allocated.
He assured that Galicia has found in water its cross-cutting axis to transform the Autonomous Community into a competitive and innovative economy that attracts investment.
Quintana announces an investment of 6.5 million euros for the support of thermal and nautical tourism in order to promote Galicia as atlantic destination
The Galician vice-president, Anxo Quintana, reaffirmed today the bid of his Government, through its Innovation and Industry Ministry, for strengthening Galicia’s appeal as Atlantic destination in a new tourist model that elaborates on the quality elements and that finds in water an opportunity multiplier. Quintana assured, during the opening of the Galician Week in Expo Zaragoza, that water “represents a differentiating element of our appeal and a quality asset for the promotion of Galicia abroad”. With this goal in mind, he disclosed that the Galician Government, the “Xunta” of Galicia, will assign until the end of its tenure up to 6.5 million euros for the support of thermal and nautical tourism.
“We want the identification between Galicia as a quality destination and water to be total” said the Galician vice-president, who also remarked that, with its nearly 300 springs and 2.734 beds in more than 20 spas, “Galicia is a thermal power and is at the European forefront of health tourism”. Consequently, he explained that the Galician government is concentrating its efforts on the promotion and commercialization of this existing offer, as well as focusing on bringing it closer to excellence so that it can be presented to new markets, also identifying it as a fundamental space for de-seasonalization.
Quintana explained that, in order to achieve these goals, the Xunta will assign a total of 4.5 million euros to strengthening thermal tourism. Specifically, 2 million euros will be invested in economic aid for the improvement and recovery of the thermal-oriented hotel infrastructures; in addition to that, 1.5 million euros will be aimed at the development of the Strategic Plan of the city of Ourense, a thermal capital. The promotional activities for Galicia’s Thermal Attractions will receive an economical backing of more than one million euros.
Anxo Quintana also underscored the emerging position of the Galician Community in the tourism and nautical activities scene. With over 1.300km of coastline and its first-level facilities estimated in more than 8.000 moorings in 23 ports, he assured that Galicia “presents an ideal destination profile for this tourism modality”. Quintana also considered this fact as a key opportunity for the consolidation of the tourist sector in terms of quality, which is being seized through several promotional activities in nautical-sportive events and in renowned international fairs. In line with that, he reminded the current participation of Galicia as guest of honour in Brest Sea Festival.
Furthermore, Quintana pointed out that the Xunta’s intends to allocate 2 million euros to the tourism and nautical activities sectors. Specifically, 600.000 euros will be assigned to support measures for city councils that conduct improvement and refurbishment of sands; other half a million euros will be allocated to the collaboration with federations, associations and nautical clubs for the development of nautical leisure activities; lastly, an investment of 900,000 will be made for drawing up plans to dynamize the tourist products of those municipalities with nautical and fluvial attractions.
The vice-president assured that the appropriateness of this line of action in tourism matters can be verified through the growth rates in the sector, above the country’s average. During last May, the number of travellers in Galicia increased by 8.2% in relation to that same month last year, as opposed to the 5.3% in the Spanish State; also the overnight visits grew by 13.4%, while the rate for the whole of Spain was of 6.6%. In addition to that, the employment rate in the sector increased by 25% between 2005 and 2007.
GALICIAN WEEK IN THE EXPO
The vice-president of the Xunta emphasized the active participation of the Galician Community in Expo Zaragoza, which started today the celebration of a Week dedicated to Galicia. This outstanding presence, much higher than the one planned for the other Autonomous Communities, is singled out through an ambitious activity programme for the fortnight, which will allow to highlight, in Anxo Quintana’s words, “the prominence of Galicia as a country of water”.
Quintana mentioned that Galicia is attending this International Expo with the aspiration of leaving its mark through a sophisticated strategy of foreign promotion that “finds in the confluence of innovation and tradition its best introduction”. The Autonomous Community presents a singular pavilion dominated by a big structure composed with more than 3,000 water samples, collected from the 315 Galician municipalities. Counting with more than 7,000 daily visits, this genuine water wall provides an image of the best tourist, cultural and landscape resources of the Galician country, turning the sounds and the environmental simulation into a privileged channel for experiencing the special relationship of this land with the culture of water.
The vice-president assured that the presence in the Expo is the result of a clear attempt to generate complicities and create alliances with the Galician economic agents that share the need of investing prospectively in the country. In this sense, 15 of the main entrepreneurial groups of the Community joined efforts for the implementation of these promotional activities. The pavilion thus acts as a window to advertise Galicia and its companies, in a clear internationalization endeavour.
As for water as a field of research, Galicia showed its shared concern in this issue, as evidenced by the participation of 13 Galician scientists and experts in the Expo Water Tribune, thus being the most represented territory of the State in the Forum.
ENTRANCE PORTICO TO XACOBEO 2010
Anxo Quintana remarked that the Expo’s space will also function as the great promotional “portico” for the forthcoming Xacobeo 2010, as it can also be perceived in the pavilion. “We are giving it this meaning (portico) in preparation for what it is going to be one of the most relevant events for Galicia in this end of decade, for which a total of 141.4 million euros will be allocated between 2008 and 2010”.
Speaking about the Xacobeo, Quintana revealed today in Zaragoza that, in their bid for consolidating the status of the pilgrim way as the Fist European Cultural Itinerary, one of the outstanding initiatives of the year will be the celebration of a Magna Exhibition about Diego Xelmírez, a key actor in the history of Galicia and also in the construction of a Romanic Europe. It will consist in a grand itinerant exhibition that will stop in the cities of Rome and Paris throughout 2010.
WATER AS POWER
In his speech Quintana also referred to the central topic of the Expo Zaragoza. In the context of a Expo that presents the water as a challenge to climate change, he said that “the image of Galicia that we want to show is that of a country that identifies water as a competitive power of the first order, that has been able to anticipate how fundamental its protection is and the added value that it provides”. In that sense, he stressed that “Galicia has found in water the great cross-cutting axis that allows the country to be presented as a competitive and innovative economy that attracts investment and the dynamic production of activities in the global sphere”.
“Galicia has constructed its own and differentiating discourse around water, underscoring those features and dimensions that enable great country alliances”, great alliances that, according to him, are pinned down in the fields of renewable energies, environment, tourism and cultural heritage. Anxo Quintana referred especially to the energy field, and reminded that in its three years of tenure, the Galician Government started a radical turn in the Galician energy policy, with a bid on water and wind as its essentials. “These two resources, together with the use of forest bio-mass, have a clear and distinctive potential to generate wealth, employment and welfare, and that is the working strategy that we are following”, he explained.
