Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2018 Exclusive Interview: 
Seville, the Start of the First World Circumnavigation

Visitors get impregnated in our way of being

When a tourist has chosen among all the possible destinations to visit your city, he deserves to enjoy a unique experience. You can enjoy three UNESCO World Heritage monuments in the same neighborhood where you can see the three cultures that historically marked the world for centuries. Making the visit a unique experience has much to do also in Seville with the enjoyment of our cuisine and our tapas. But above all, the great recommendation that can be made to a tourist who chooses Seville is to get impregnated in our way of being, see and live life walking through our streets and interacting with people.

Seville is on the right track in consolidating a city offer

In terms of tourism, we are breaking the seasonality hand in hand with the cultural offer, for example, in autumn or at Christmas. Also from the point of view of culture, we are creating products closely linked to culture and the enjoyment of the city, as is the case with our Murillo Year. Something similar will happen from 2019 onwards with the fifth anniversary of the first world circumnavigation by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano; their voyage began and ended in the port of Seville. In a sustainable way, our more than 8 million square meters of green areas perfectly integrated into the urban fabric, our urban bike lanes and the enjoyment of our Guadalquivir River, compose and complete the picture of the destination. To be considered the best city to visit in 2018 by the prestigious Lonely Planet travel guide, or the references of Seville that we are getting from international media and influencers suggest that we are on the right track in consolidating a city offer.  

The improvement of tourism supply and demand is ongoing

The city of Seville, at a tourist level, is carrying out actions to improve both the tourist supply and demand. On the one hand, there are already projects to open new five or four stars hotels of to attract high quality tourism.  

Work is also being done to open new long-haul air connections to attract long-distance tourism and thus increase the average stay. In addition, and with this same goal, cooperation agreements have been signed with other Spanish cities, such as Madrid, and a tourism product has been created with Córdoba, Málaga and Granada called Andalusian Soul.  

On the other hand, Seville is consolidating itself in segments such as MICE, hosting this year and the next major international congresses (WTFC, WTTC, CAPA, ABTA); also at a national and international level, it is being projected in this sense, since it is the venue for the delivery of important cultural awards, such as the Goya Film Awards or the European Film Academy Awards.  

Another segment in which Seville is situated at a good level is film shooting, being the scene of major international productions such as Game of Thrones.    

I have attended the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit in Los Angeles In 2017. I participated defending the candidacy of the city as a possible destination of the summit. These were intense days, very well organized.