The mayoress of Toledo, Milagros Tolón, presented this Wednesday at the International Tourism Fair the campaign ‘Be, live, share… your world heritage’ that will guide the city’s tourism strategy throughout 2023. A proposal that seeks to build loyalty to travelers through the wide range of experiences that Toledo offers. A presentation that took place this afternoon at the Castilla-La Mancha stand and that has had the support of the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto; the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the Minister of Economy and Tourism, Patricia Franco; the president of the Toledo Provincial Council, Álvaro Gutiérrez, and the Government delegate in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Tierraseca. Different councilors of the municipal Corporation have also joined this appointment as well as representatives of different Toledo institutions and managers of companies and entities of the city’s tourism sector.
Experiences to share This campaign places the person at the center of the entire strategy, proposing a segmented offer, with plans adjusted to the tastes and preferences of travelers so that they can enjoy all the options that Toledo offers in addition to its monumental, artistic and history that make it a unique city in the world. Experiences “to share” such as taking a route along the path of the Tagus River; attend a ceramics workshop; learn how a Toledo sword is forged; cross the river on a zip line; night routes; visits to unknown heritage; participate in one of the festivals or concerts that the city develops throughout the year; ride a balloon to see the city from the sky or visit Puy Du Fou, which in the last year has registered “record number of visitors.”
What is Objective?
The objective is to position Toledo as a city with its own identity, recognizable, differentiating, alive and inclusive, said the mayoress, who has advanced that in the coming weeks there will be news about “Roman Toledo” with the opening to the public of some swimming pools dating from this period in a building in the Plaza de Amador de los Ríos. ‘Best city destination 2022’ All of this has provided the city with important recognitions such as ‘Best night view in the world’; fifth most welcoming city in the world, according to Booking, and ‘Best Spanish destination city in 2022’, awarded by the International Federation of Tourism Journalists and Writers that the city received this morning from its managers.
“A prize for perseverance, tenacity and excellence”, the mayoress said energetically, to the entire tourism sector of the city, and we are going to continue working on that because “Toledo does not sell itself, we are the sector and the institutions those of us who make Toledo great and sell Toledo”, assured the municipal councilor. “What better way than to start Fitur with this award for the best tourist destination in Spain”, acknowledged Milagros Tolón, at a stand dedicated to cinema with everything that Toledo has to contribute to the seventh art, having passed through the city outstanding productions directed by directors of the first level such as Buñuel, Almodóvar, Itziar Boyaín, Alex de Iglesia or Amenábar, he explained. Recovery of tourism As the main engine of the Toledo economy, tourism is configured for the Government of Milagros Tolón as “a fundamental sector” in its strategy to consolidate the growth, development and modernization of the city.
Explanation by The Mayor
A sector, as explained by the mayor, which, after two “very difficult” years, continues to progress and has recovered the pulse prior to Covid-19, waiting for a small percentage of Asian tourism that the city hopes to recover throughout this year. In addition, the increase in the overnight stay/visitor ratio has stood out as very positive data, which has gone from an average of 1.52 days in 2019 to almost 2 in 2022. “People are already staying to sleep in Toledo”, indicated Milagros Tolón , one of the main objectives of the promotional strategies that the City Council has been developing in recent years.
Thanks to the tourism sector Among the axes that will continue to be strengthened to promote the leadership position that Toledo has as a top-level tourist destination, there is also language tourism, to strengthen the ties that link our city with the study of Spanish in the world, “cradle of the School of Translators”, and congress and business tourism, since it is a sector that generates a lot of activity and economic dynamism in the city with a thousand meetings, large and small, already closed for this 2023. Also gastronomic tourism will be promoted by the Toledo Hospitality Association and the best chefs in the city, some of them among the public, and family tourism will be relaunched, with new proposals aimed at enjoying with the family and the visit Puy Du Fou, which will add new spaces and shows this season.
National and international promotion On the other hand, the mayoress has highlighted the importance of the national and international promotion of the city through joint actions that are carried out every year with the state networks to which Toledo belongs. Such is the case of the Red de Juderías, the Red de Ciudades AVE and the Group of World Heritage Cities with which the tourist offer of the capital will be at international fairs such as Brussels, Singapore, Berlin, Jata and London and presentations in the United States. United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, France or Portugal. At this fair in Madrid, Toledo will reinforce the alliances it maintains with these networks and with Paradores and Turespaña to enhance its image as a Spain brand projected to the whole world.
More reasons to visit Toledo In the presentation of Toledo’s tourist offer at Fitur, a promotional video has been projected that invites the traveler to be, feel and share the city through multiple experiences. In the audiovisual you can see images of Corpus Christi or Holy Week in Toledo, our two festivals declared of International Tourist Interest, and numerous cultural and leisure events that take place throughout the year in Toledo and that the mayoress has detailed. For the month of February, February of Legend and the Toledo Enamora initiative will take place with activities such as the Festival del Son (at the Palacio de Congresos), the Love Letters and Sonnets contest and Routes through scenarios of Bécquer’s poems.
In March there will be a new edition of the Sweet Fair in the cathedral cloister, the Festival of Sacred Music and Toledo de Bocados, which will combine gastronomy and heritage. Holy Week, a Festival of International Tourist Interest, will take place in April, and Toledo will celebrate a new edition of Toledo Nights, on April 23, as well as a performance of Music on the Walls. “May will bring more reasons to discover and return to Toledo”: a new edition of Sunset Wine or Blind Dinners, a first-class gastronomic product in great demand by Toledo and visitors. The Great Week of Corpus Christi will be held from June 3 to 11, including an extensive program of activities in the patios of Toledo as an aperitif, and in July the World Music Festival and Heritage Thursdays will return, which will last until the month of September, with the collaboration of the Consortium, which “has been so successful in its first edition”.
Cultural Autumn Will Begin
After the August Fair and Fiestas, a very powerful Cultural Autumn will begin until the month of November with already consolidated festivals such as the Voix Vives Poetry Festival, the International Jazz Festival, the Heritage Night, the Battle of Organs, the Festival CIBRA Film Festival, the Autumn Flamenco Festival, Blind Dinners, wine tastings, Conventual Breakfasts and Toledo en Globo. Finally, the Sephardic Week and the Sweet Fair in December will be the prelude to the Christmas programme, which has become a great attraction in recent years.
Milagros Tolón closed her speech by ensuring that, after the pandemic, “Toledo has re-emerged with more strength, more vitality, more desire and more future than ever” and has thanked the Community Board and the Government of Spain for the seven million that will be allocated to Toledo in the tourism field to promote local crafts and to carry out an important remodeling of the historic park of La Vega. Support from the national and regional government For her part, the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, highlighted the passion with which the mayoress defends the city and congratulated Toledo on the prize awarded by Fitur as ‘Best Destination in Spain’ in 2022′. A “recognized” award considering that it is awarded by journalists, who “tend to be quite critical when it comes to evaluating the experiences that take place throughout the national territory”. For Reyes Maroto, “Toledo has known how not only to protect.
This article is originally published on alcazardesanjuan.com
