Over the last few weeks, Malaga Council and the province’s tourist office have organized a number of fam trips for travel agents from different countries.
Geared to promoting Malaga as a MICE destination under the aegis of the City Corporation, the Malaga Convention Bureau, together with the Tourist Office, have recently organized a number of fam trips for travel agents specializing in congress and conventions from countries where, generally speaking, there has been a growth in the number of business travellers, including Poland, France and Russia, among others.
The main aim of these fam trips is to continue positioning the destination in these important international markets, putting the accent on the meeting and incentive segment, familiarizing the participants with the Malaga-Costa del Sol brand, and showcasing the destination’s offerings and attributes throughout the year so as to combat seasonality.
Among other initiatives, both bodies, in collaboration with the regional government’s Department of Commerce and Tourism and the Spanish Tourism Office in Warsaw, have organized a fam trip for Polish agencies specializing in meetings and incentives. Likewise, a number of French travel agents specializing in congresses have also had the chance to familiarize themselves with the destination.
Furthermore, and as a result of the contacts made at EIBTM, one of the most prominent MICE shows in the world, a fam trip is being organized for a dozen Russian business tourism agencies (including a number of major companies that usually organize corporate events on a yearly basis). The participating companies feature ATH, TMC, Demlink, Continent Express, Actava Conferences & Incentives, and Senator Actio. During their trip, they will have opportunity to get to know firsthand other destinations in the province of Malaga, such as Ronda.
Julio Andrade, counsellor for tourism at the local corporation, has stressed that fam and press trips are marketing initiatives that generate the greatest ROI, since they allow professional opinion leaders to get to know personally the destination’s tourist attractions. In this respect, Andrade is committed to maintaining a close collaboration with local and regional institutions with an eye to organizing these types of initiatives, above all geared to professionals from the most interesting markets for Malaga and the Costa del Sol.
In the words of Elias Bendodo, fam trips become "an indispensable tool for selling Malaga and the Costa del Sol, since they allow professionals to familiarize themselves with the destination and therefore be able to better market the province’s different products."
Moreover and thanks to the direct contact with these professionals "we can get a better idea of the preferences and demands of potential clients that visit our destination with the aim of continuing to appraise our offerings," added Bendodo.
