At a time when restrictions are disappearing and international tourism is beginning to recover, the Costa del Sol receives as an accolade the visit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a splendid visiting card for the destination in its main foreign source market for travelers.
The Boris Johnson’s vacation in a luxurious villa in Benahavís, which have generated controversy in the United Kingdom due to the current supply crisis that their country is going through, have been welcomed by the tourism sector of the Costa del Sol.
The visit comes at the “perfect” moment, at the gates of the World Travel Market tourism fair in London (which begins on November 1 – and once the British Government has simplified its restrictions for vaccinated travelers, the executive vice president of the Aehcos hotel association, Javier Hernández, has told Efe.
Johnson’s trip, great defender of Brexit, to the Costa del Sol symbolizes in some way that “The season opens” to travel to Spain, has indicated Hernández, who hopes that it will have a positive effect in the short and medium term on the recovery of British tourism.
For the vice president and tourism advisor of the Board, Juan Marín, Johnson’s visit conveys a positive image to attract British tourism, and it is a sign that the circumstances in relation to the pandemic have improved a lot.
Marín has celebrated how “intelligent Johnson is to have chosen the best destination in the world” to spend his holidays, specifically in the town of Benahavís, adjacent to Marbella.
The president of Costa del Sol Tourism, Francisco Salado, agrees that Johnson’s stay will be a “good business card” for the reactivation of this market, since the fact that the prime minister “decides that the best destination to rest is the Costa del Sol ” is a “boost”.
A destination for different motivations
Furthermore, it is interpreted as an endorsement of the diversity of offer because it shows that “tourists find what they are looking for: quality establishments, good service, scenery, golf, gastronomy …”, which can encourage the British to opt for the Costa del Sol, he pointed out.
Salado recognizes that the holidays of the leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom constitute a beginning “on the right foot” of the promotion for recover this market so relevant to the destination.
“This is a fabulous advertisement”, the president of the Tourism Council of the Confederation of Employers (CEA), Miguel Sánchez, told Efe that he welcomed the moment in which the visit took place, once the travel requirements had been made more flexible. In addition, it has stressed that the entire sector should congratulate itself on the “product” offered by the Costa del Sol.
In the same sense, the president of the Andalusian Travel Agency Business Association (Aedav), Sergio García, has spoken, who believes that the holidays of the prime minister of the United Kingdom are an “oxygen balloon” for the tourism sector.
The visit comes at a “magnificent” moment, in which the Costa del Sol aspires to recover the numbers of British visitors it had before the pandemic, although the ideal would be “not to be so dependent” on this issuer, admits.
Travel agents hope there will be a “copycat” effect and the British are encouraged to book their holidays in the coming months on the Costa del Sol, which is reaffirming itself as a safe destination.
As it is an unofficial visit, the Malaga institutions have not proposed activities to the Prime Minister. “If you contact us, we would invite you to visit the Caminito del Rey and see all the natural wonders we have,” said Salado.
Although Jonhson’s itinerary not transcended, who has spent most of the time at the Torre de Tramores estate -owned by the British Secretary of State for the Environment, Zac Goldsmith-, what is certain is that he has been able to enjoy some sunny days with his wife, Carrie Symonds , and their seventeen-month-old son.