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Malaga chosen as European Capital of Intelligent Tourism for 2020

PILAR MARTÍNEZ

Malaga has been chosen as the European Capital of Intelligent Tourism for 2020 - a title granted by the European Commission to celebrate destinations that have chosen to innovate to make tourism more sustainable. The city saw off competition from ... categories, but also for the impressive programme of activities they intend to carry out during 2020," read the final verdict. The decision was taken on Wednesday in Helsinki (Finland), where Malaga councillor for Tourism, Rosa Sánchez, had gone to back the ... said: "This designation, in addition to being a motive for immense joy, can be a powerful stimulus for us to continue working towards being a technologically advanced city." The two European Intelligent Tourism Capitals will benefit from communications

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Clamour increases for extended hours on coastal Cercanías train services

IVÁN GELIBTER / ALBERTO GÓMEZ

...mobility, including the number of people who use the Cercanías service, causing queues every day, and it says these could be reduced if more trains were made available. "Isolated at night" This week the tourism sector and mayors of towns along the Costa ... benefit tourism and people who live locally," he says. Salado, who is well aware of the inconvenience of a major airport having no nighttime train service, goes even further and says there needs to be an improvement to the entire metropolitan transport ... was analysing its accessibility project for La Nogalera station. "Malaga and Torremolinos form part of an enormous tourism nucleus which is in need of suitable public transport, and more people are coming here from Malaga city all the time, especially

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Marbella plays host to first underwater and space tourism summit

CHARO MÁRQUEZ

Tourism nowadays is no longer just about exploring new horizons on the Earth's surface. The latest frontiers to be explored were brought into focus in Marbella on Monday and Tuesday as Les Roches hospitality school hosted the first ever Space & ... Underwater Tourism universal Summit (SUTUS). The two-day event welcomed an array of distinguished speakers including Sam Scimemi, director of the International Space Station (ISS) at the NASA headquarters; Tony Gannon, vice-president of Investigation and ... are the next major challenges for luxury tourism: space and the sea. In his opening speech, Scimemi outlined the cost of a trip to space: 80 million dollars, plus 35,000 dollars a night at the ISS. He said that space travel was possible despite the

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Andalucía, ready to test the British water

Pilar Martínez

The World Travel Market (WTM) in London has always been important for Andalusian tourism and this year's event, which takes place from 4 to 8 November, will be especially so. The tourism sector in Andalucía knows that this WTM will be a type of ... The statistics speak for themselves; they show how dependent Andalusian tourism is on the UK and they make clear the consequences that the slightest disruption can have on this volatile industry. The Costa del Sol is also the preferred destination ... figure for Spain as a whole. After Thomas Cook went into liquidation, the Confederación Española de Hoteles (CEHAT) expressed its appreciation for British tourists, which have always been considered the cornerstone of Spanish tourism, and called for

Local

Approval given for the construction of a new hotel in the centre of La Cala de Mijas

Ivan Gelibter

Duncoles SL will invest approximately 400,000 euros in the 170 square metres of land. "Being able to increase our hotel offering is always good news," added Ruiz, "because tourism is the biggest economic driver for our town." This news comes in addition

Local

Will Thomas Cook's demise affect the Costa del Sol in the long term?

Pilar Martínez

While there are few immediate consequences for the Costa del Sol, the collapse of Thomas Cook, an operator which brings seven million visitors to Spain every year, is nonetheless a concern for the tourism industry. "This is really bad news," said ... Francisco Salado, head of Turismo Costa del Sol. "It's worrying for tourism in general because it is one of the biggest tour operators in the world but also for the British market, especially with the uncertainty over Brexit." José Carlos Escribano,

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Mijas hospitality school will be up and running by the beginning of 2020, says Junta

A. M. ROMERO

...such as accommodation reception, sommelier, local tourism promotion and languages. Further works on the building, which has been closed for five years and was even occupied at one point by squatters, will allow catering classes to commence later next

LifeStyle

Underground tourism growing in popularity

Pulpí has joined the Association of Tourism Caves of Spain, which has 40 members in the form of municipalities with natural or artificial caves which are of interest to tourists. These include Nerja (Malaga), Karrantza (Vizcaya), Altamira ... (Cantabria), La Jayona (Badajoz) and Jalance (Valencia). "We want people to see the mine, its buildings and its environment, not just the geode," said Juan Bautista López, Pulpí's tourism councillor. In Almeria province there are already some very ... attractive places for fans of geological tourism, such as the old Rodalquilar gold mines, the karst beauty spot of Sorbas, with hundreds of galleries full of stalactites and stalagmites, and the Cabo de Gata Geopark and its beautiful volcanic landscapes

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The growth in tourism on the Costa is reflected in hotel profits and employment

NURIA TRIGUERO

Andalucía where the RevPar has increased. On the coasts of Granada, Almeria, Cadiz and Huelva it has dropped since last year. Bumper figures for July delight tourism chiefs in Marbella and Estepona The average daily rate in hotels in the ... depend solely on the traditional ones. This is proving successful and we are seeing some very positive increases in tourism this year". In fact, Malaga is third in the ranking of coastal provinces, behind Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, in terms of

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Bumper figures for July delight tourism chiefs in Marbella and Estepona

NIEVES CASTRO / CHARO MÁRQUEZ

Tourism bosses at Marbella and Estepona councils have been commenting on the release of data showing the increase in the number of tourists staying in hotels in the two resorts in July. Official government data confirms what those who tried to ... find a parking space or seat in a restaurant last month already know: that part of the Costa is booming this summer. related story The growth in tourism on the Costa is reflected in hotel profits and employment In July, 97,452 people stayed ... in Marbella hotels, the best July figures for 13 years, up slightly on last year and 20 per cent on 2017. The average hotel room price also increased slightly to 199 euros per night in Marbella, says the data. Head of Tourism in Marbella, Laura