The Director General of Prensa Malagueña, Jesus Alloza, welcomed all the guests at the SUR in English 25th Anniversary dinner with a speech in which he recalled the pioneering beginnings of the newspaper 25 years ago, when the decision was taken to publish a newspaper for English speaking residents on the Costa del Sol, providing them with local news and services to which they had formerly had no access. He spoke of the now historic and traditional links between SUR and tourism, and summed up the 25th anniversary of this collaboration with the three words “pride, satisfaction and gratitude”. Antonio Bernabé, Director General of Turespaña, then spoke of SUR’s support of tourism and its dedication to promotion of the sector through SUR in English, and of the presentation to SUR in English of Spanish Tourism’s Merit Award, which will take place in December. He called on the sector to continue working together to maintain Spain’s position as market leader in the world of tourism. Following on this theme, Salvador Pendón of the provincial government and the Costa del Sol Tourist Board pointed out the importance of the British market to Malaga and the Costa del Sol, and referred to SUR in English as “a vital ally in our promotion work”.

Francisco de la Torre, Mayor of Malaga, started his speech with warm words of praise for SUR in English and spoke of the progress made by the city in attracting increasing numbers of tourists. The sector must work together, he said, for the good of everyone concerned, and advocated new initiatives such as the joint Marbella/Malaga promotion presented at the World Travel Market this year which has been welcomed by British tour operators.

The final speech was made the President of the Junta de Andalucia, José Antonio Griñán, who thanked SUR for gathering all the tourism sector together in London, and praising other initiatives such as the promotional campaign being carried out in the streets of London, to reach the vast numbers of tourists who now organise their own trips, and a ‘Virtual community’ shortly to be introduced by the government in order to reach tourists worldwide.