eria noisa policy reaps its rewards


Singer Steve Smith tours Spain in the promotional  lm Route o ate


E


xtending visa-free travel has been a success story for erbia, offi cials say. The country saw double-digit visitor growth for the sixth year running in 2017, when international arrivals numbered almost 1.5 million. The projected growth for the next three years is 40%. Visa-free travel is now available to citizens from Europe, China, ussia, India and the , but the National Tourism Organisation said greater awareness of what the country has to off er is key. erbia off ers city breaks, cultural tours, wintersports, activity holidays, river cruising, health tourism and festivals,” it said. Marketing plans for 2019 include a stronger focus on integrated digital campaigns including travel and news portals. A six-part TV series highlighting what erbia off ers to tourists will air on Sky in the coming year. In 2021, ovi ad, erbia’s second-largest city will be the European Capital of Culture, the fi rst time the accolade has been awarded to a non-E country. In capital city Belgrade, a $3 billion waterfront project is under development, providing a new cultural and leisure focus for the city, with more hotels, restaurants and public spaces.


Construction is also under way for a gondola lift, linking Belgrade to the alemegdan ortress overlooking the river Danube.


Singer Steve Smith tours Spain in the promotional  lm he Route o ate


Catalonia wants tourists to marh to a diff erent eat


C


atalan Tourist Board is launching new touring routes as it aims to encourage


visitors beyond its coast. As part of its Year of Cultural Tourism 2019, Catalonia has six new tourism products and six cultural routes, from the Mediterranean sea to the Pyrenees, focusing on art, gastronomy and its medieval and Roman heritage. The current marketing strategy, which runs until 2022, also prioritises the regional dispersal of tourists, along with increasing spend and low-season arrivals. Its award-winning online fi lm, The Route of Fate, follows two friends who fi nd an ustralian singer-songwriter’s travel journal and retrace his cultural route through Spain. The tourist board will also be working together with tour operators to create new product.


“About 90% of tourists stay on the coast of Catalonia, with only 10% travelling inland. We need to redress


this balance – to encourage visitors to travel beyond the beach and explore the rest of our beautiful region,” said Aicard Guinovart, the Catalan Tourist Board’s  and Ireland director. atalonia continues to be pain’s most popular inbound destination, ahead of the Balearic and Canary Islands, which rank second and third respectively for international arrivals. Last year, the region welcomed 19 million international visitors – up by 5% on the previous year, though there was a dip in the fi nal three months of 201 due to a fl are-up in the ongoing dispute over independence for the region. uring the fi rst eight months of 2018, there were 13.4 million visitors to Catalonia, down by 2.7% on the same period in 2017 compared with a fall of 0.1% for Spain as a whole. rance was atalonia’s top inbound market with a 31% share, followed by the , which accounted for 11.4% of visitors.


Time to Czech out the alternatives T


he Czech Republic hopes to encourage visitors to step outside the capital city of Prague with its 2019 Alternative Cities campaign.


Launched using VR technology at WTM London, the campaign centres on destinations such as the country’s second city of Brno and the spa


20 wtm insights winter 2018


town of arlovy ary, said to be home to the world’s largest concentration of hot mineral springs. Part of the campaign will focus on the zech epublic’s booming microbrewery scene, encompassing mountain beer trails and the country’s hop-growing tradition.


he spa ton o Karlovy Vary


Marketing of these cities will revolve around three categories: Joyful, aimed at families and couples; Heritage,


targeted at the over-50s; and Happening, focusing on millennials in livelier locations.


wtm.com


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