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Suzuki unveils its new SV 650 at Lloret de Mar

The motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki has chosen Lloret de Mar for the international presentation of the new model of its SV 650 motorcycle. After studying various locations, accompanied by the Crom Events agency of Lloret, Suzuki opted for Lloret de Mar, specifically the Rigat Park Hotel, which it considered the ideal space for hosting over 250 journalists and distributors travelling from abroad to attend the international presentation of its new product.

The international presentation of the model has been staggered in two stages. The first stage, which took place from 20 February to 2 March, included the unveiling of the new motorcycle in Lloret, attended by six groups of European and Japanese journalists. They had a first look at the new SV 650 and were able to chat with the engineering team behind it. During the second presentation stage, from 7 to 20 March, nine groups of European Suzuki distributors will have the chance to discover and try out this new model, yet to be launched.

In total, over 250 invited journalists and distributors, in a series of two-night stays, will have got the low-down on Suzuki‘s latest model for 2016

This is not the first time a leading automotive company has decided to present a new product in Lloret de Mar. In 2012 Audi chose Lloret for the international presentation of its Audi A1 Sportback. Indeed, Lloret boasts a long association with all things motor related, hosting important motor sports events such as the Costa Brava Historic Rally, now in its 13th year.

Presentation of the Olot-Girona-Lloret MICE tourism project

The Olot-Girona-Lloret MICE tourism project was unveiled on 4 February at an event held at the headquarters of the Garrotxa Regional Archive, where the Mayor of Girona, Albert Ballesta, the Mayor of Lloret de Mar, Jaume Dulsat, and the Mayor of Olot, Josep M. Corominas, presented a pioneering alliance in Catalonia which responds to the desire of the three municipalities to work together to become a point of attraction for business tourism.

The Olot-Girona-Lloret project is the sum of local specialised MICE initiatives implemented by each of the destinations. On the basis of the work carried out through their individual projects (Meetings among Volcanoes of Olot, the Girona City Convention Bureau and the Lloret Convention Bureau), the three municipalities have agreed to join forces, pooling economic and human resources, with three very clear objectives:

– To create a new tourism business product based on the complementary nature of three completely different landscapes that can be reached in just 35 minutes, each with its own specialised MICE segment (Olot – incentives; Girona – association meetings; Lloret de Mar – corporate meetings).

– To draw together the members of the three local initiatives in order to generate joint proposals and business opportunities.

– To position the brands of the three municipalities in the international MICE industry.

– At a series of meetings held by the Advisory Board of the Costa Brava Girona Convention (Girona Tourist Board), the managers of each project began to lay the foundations of this partnership with the goal of creating synergies between the partner companies of the aforementioned local initiatives. The result is an innovative, versatile, cross-cutting and totally complementary initiative.

The respective action plans of the three local initiatives were also presented at the Thursday event in Olot, including promotional and marketing actionsOver the course of 2016, visits will be scheduled with event organising companies and travel agencies specialising in MICE tourism and end customers (companies, associations, etc.). As such, the three municipalities have agreed to hire an expert to market the Olot-Girona-Lloret product in the Catalan and French markets.

Presentations will also be held in Barcelona, Madrid and Toulouse, and fam trips will be organised for tour operators interesting in discovering the product in person.

The Olot-Girona-Lloret MICE tourism project has been enthusiastically welcomed by the members of Meetings among Volcanoes, the Girona City Convention Bureau and the Lloret Convention Bureau. Support is being provided by the Catalunya Convention Bureau and the Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau, both of which are dedicated to MICE tourism promotion.

 

The Lloret Convention Bureau takes part in the 29th European Cities Marketing Summer School

The Lloret Convention Bureau is currently participating in the Summer School of the European Cities Marketing network, which is being held in Vienna. Lloret Turisme joined the network at the beginning of this year. With a membership composed of Europe’s major cities, it is dedicated to fostering the exchange of knowledge and the improvement of practices in the areas of tourism management, promotion and marketing.

The network schedules a series of working group meetings throughout the year on marketing-related areas, such as digital marketing, city cards, city marketing or, as in this case, business tourism.

The 53 bodies attending the Summer School include convention bureaux, companies in the meetings and events sector, conference centres and business tourism hotels. The participants from Catalonia are the Catalunya Convention Bureau, the Lloret Convention Bureau and the Evenia Hotels chain of Lloret de Mar.

The four-day event includes work sessions on themes such as attracting European conferences, measures for ensuring a return on investment in events or the promotion of festivals. As Elisabeth Keegan, Director of the Lloret Convention Bureau, explains, “The goal is to find out about what other cities do and exchange experiences in order to apply them subsequently to our own strategy.”

At the Annual Meeting and General Assembly of the ECM held in June, Lloret de Mar had the opportunity to present the Lloret Convention Bureau as a strategy for diversifying the offering of the holiday destination and reducing its seasonal nature.

Vienna, the host city for this year’s Summer School, is one of the three leading European cities for MICE tourism, the other two being Paris and Madrid.

Lloret de Mar hosts a series of promotional events to showcase its tourism products

A familiarisation trip for agencies specialising in cycling activities, a press trip for a South Korean docu-series and a cultural blog trip have taken place over the last few days

Lloret Turisme, the tourism promotion body of Lloret de Mar, has been pressing ahead with its promotional initiatives, in this case mainly aimed at showcasing the destination’s offering beyond sun and sand, and at progressing towards reducing the seasonal nature of tourism.

Lloret Turisme has hosted a fam trip aimed at German travel agents specialised in cycling activities, organised by the Catalan Tourism Agency with the goal of showcasing the options in the area for cycling tourism, which has experienced steady growth in recent years.

Certified since 2006 as a Sports Tourism Destination, Lloret de Mar is one of the best-prepared destinations on the Costa Brava for welcoming groups of cyclists, with a specific offering that includes 13 specialised hotels two of which are currently undergoing the certification process), which offer parking, maintenance and cleaning services for bicycles and customised menus for sports people.

Yesterday, Lloret de Mar also hosted a press trip formed by a group of thirty people working on a docu-series presented by Mina Sohn, a well-known former television presenter and now a best-selling travel writer. The documentary is about fifteen hard-up young people who are given the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time and share their experiences. During their stay in Lloret de Mar they walked along the coastal footpath, visited Santa Clotilde Gardens and tried some Catalan cuisine. They were also invited to a daiquiri tasting, where they heard about the history of the americanos (immigrants from Lloret who returned home from the Americas having made their fortune).

Meanwhile, yesterday Lloret also hosted a press trip for “Il Reporter”, one of the ten most influential travel bloggers in Italy and winner of the Lonely Planet “Best Italian Travel Blog” award. His blog, which focuses on culture and nature, receives over 30,000 visits every month and his social network profiles have over 10,000 followers. During his stay in Lloret de Mar he visited Santa Clotilde Gardens and the modernist cemetery.

Turning to MICE tourism, the Lloret Convention Bureau has hosted a business tourism fam trip for ten MICE travel agencies from all over Europe. The fam trip has been organised as part of Meet Catalunya, a multi-market one-day conference organised by the Catalunya Convention Bureau and held at the facilities of Caves Codorniu. Over the course of the day, the Lloret Convention Bureau, together with other companies from the MICE tourism sector in the Girona area, had the chance to market its offering to the over 60 agencies taking part.