Pyrenees Workshop

The Pyrenees Workshop, a showcase for the inland and mountain tourism offer of the Pirineu de Girona for the 2010-2011 season has been a positive experience for the fourteen tourism bodies, associations and companies from the Girona area who have taken part.

At the start of October the seventh annual Pyrenees Workshop was held in the town of Arties, in the Aran Valley. This is an event held in a different location each year by members of the Pirineu brand. This year the focus was on presenting and marketing mostly inland and mountain tourism products to travel agents and tour operators from both emerging markets (Portugal and Israel) and consolidated markets (Spain, the Benelux countries and France).

The workshop brought together 63 businesspeople from the Catalan tourism sector and 41 European tour operators with the aim of making contact and generating business opportunities. The Patronat de Turisme took part in the Pyrenees Workshop to publicise the general range of tourism products (ski resorts of the Girona area, natural areas, cultural trails, greenways, hiking, cycle tourism, mountain biking, gastronomy, traditions, etc.) and services of the Pirineu de Girona destination. Fourteen tourism bodies, associations and companies from the Girona area took part in the workshop: Adsera Hotel, Alp Hotel Masella, Globubolg, Costa Brava Verd Hotels, Cal Parent, Solineu Hotels, Alt Empordà Turisme, ATA, Hotel Grèvol Spa, Turisme Garrotxa, Campus Cerdanya, Piramitour A Peu, the Patronat Comarcal de Turisme de la Cerdanya and the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona.

The Catalan delegates saw the participation of Israeli tour operators in the workshop for the first time as a very positive step since the spokesman of the Israeli ambassador to Spain, Lior Haiat, confirmed that Catalonia and the Community of Valencia are both growing tourism destinations and are the first choices for most of the 150,000 Israeli tourists who visit Spain.

Israeli tourists are more interested in cultural and mountain tourism than beach tourism. As such, Israeli tour operators have departments specialised in Sepharad (the Hebrew name for Spain) and mountain destinations that work with the Catalan tourism sector to establish commercial relations aimed at lengthening the stays of customers who, at present, mostly visit Barcelona and Girona.

The Israeli operators Leah Netzet of Geographical, Aharon Sabag of Gulliver and Medraft organise exclusive tours for their customers focusing on Barcelona and Girona. They are currently working with Catalan tourism professionals to provide their customers with add-on packages related to nature and scenery in the Pyrenees.