The Sports Council for the Benidorm Council has initiated a hiking route campaign, “hiking Benidorm 2010“, throughout the Alicante Province, which began on the 20th of February with the Castellets de Sella route.
These hikes will leave the Benidorm bus station every Saturday at 09.15 hrs.For all people who are able to walk 12 to 14 kilometres with intermediate rests and walking at a smoooth continuous pace.
To participate in these routes, you must make a prior reservation :
629.914.828 (From 11 – 20 hrs) or 619.352.677 (from 15 – 20 hrs).
The other day I was talking to a friend from the North of Spain who I hadn’t seen for al long time and asked him when he was coming to see me in Benidorm after so many years.
His reply was: But its full of older people!
I then asked: When was the last time you were in Benidorm ?.
He answered : It must be about 15 years ago.
I then said: How can you say that if you haven’t been here for years. I don’t think you have a clue what Benidorm is like nowadays.
It was then that I realized that as a destination we have been incapable of communicating to our tourists the changes that have taken place in these last few years. Large unproductive amounts of money have been spent on marketing, press, trade fairs etc and people who have either not been to Benidorm or have not visited in years still use adjectives , normally derogatory to describe Benidorm. Those visitors who come here on a regular basis do not have the same opinion.
Although I am proud of the fact that we have “mature” tourists who visit our Town, I don’t agree with my friend , as we have a wide variety of visitors, from older couples , young people and families who are our most popular type of visitor. Therefore, I thought I would comment on a few things that you probably don’t know about Benidorm.
Sunny days are guaranteed 350 days a year with a temperature that does not fall below 15 –18ºc .The beaches are the same as ever but now have two promenades , the last one was inaugurated a few months ago, they both have fantastic walks to enjoy.
Did you know that we have no fewer than 4 Theme Parks. Terra Mitica , a park for everyone, Terra Natura , a majestic superb animal park representing the five continents. Aqualandia, , a waterpark which is probably one of the most visited in Europe and Mundomar an animal park with a dolphin show.
We also now have two 18 hole golf courses and a pitch and putt, each offering spectacular views of the town and the Mediterranean sea. There are also 30 golf courses within one hours driving distance.
Not only do we have a large entertainment theatre called the Benidorm Palace which seats over 1000 people and which puts on shows that match those seen in Paris but we also . all the bars and clubs that put on their own shows and entertainment.
The construction of the new Benidorm Cultural Centre with a capacity for 700 people will be completed in 2011. We will therefore, also be a destination for conferences and conventions.
Of course we can improve many things in our town, the urban landscape, our tourist offices, our clubs and discos that need updating, our urban transport system etc
However, do you know a place that offers all these things I mention above ?. Benidorm is often compared to other tourist areas without appreciating the fact that Benidorm is one single destination and not a few towns grouped together.
You may think that my comments are quite passionate but if you come and visit us you will see for yourself that I am right and that my friends views are completely wrong.
What do you think ?
I hope that I have been able to show what Benidorm is today. Have a look at the video that you can find in our blog about Benidorm.
I have travelled extensively in the past few years all round Spain and also some areas of Europe, both for work and leisure. One thing I can assure you is that Benidorm and the Comunidad Valenciana in general have an excellent Hotel and Holiday Apartment infrastructure difficult to beat because of the quality of the product and also the excellent price quality relationship.
I do not say this lightly. Even though its easier for Benidorm Hoteliers to judge and appreciate the quality that the sector has to offer , there are many good reasons that can prove what I m saying.
1-It s a fact that Benidorm is one of the Spanish destinations that has asked for less financial help from the Spanish government for the renovation of the infrastructure of the tourist sector. This is due to the fact that Benidorm businessmen, aware of the strong competition of other destinations , have been continuously renovating their hotels year after year adapting them for the changing markets and clients needs. As well as the effort made by the business community, the local authorities have also contributed in the improvements of our hotel sector with the creation of laws that have helped in the construction of excellent 4 and 5 star hotels.
2- As well as the national legislation, the hotels and apart-hotels of the “Comunidad Valenciana” follow a specific regional legislation much stricter than in the other regions of Spain, in terms of fire inspections, public health, food hygiene etc… Many tourist destinations in Spain only stick to the national legislation.
3-At present Benidorm is one of the tourist areas with the most official Quality Plans in Spain , for example the ISO 9000:2001”, and “Q” certificates for quality tourism. There are also certificates for , “excellence in kitchens”, quality plans for the environment etc. Moreover Benidorm Hotels have won many awards given every year by Spanish and international tour operators in recognition of the high level of service and quality. Most of the hotels in Benidorm also have their own quality coordinators exclusively dedicated to the improvement of their establishments.
4- We constantly receive visits from external auditors sent by the main Tour Operators that have customers in our area.
5- It is one of the tourist destinations that has the latest innovations in both energy and water saving.
These differences are highlighted more if we compare them to Hotels and Holiday Apartments in Europe. In many countries tourism legislation is light years away far from any Spanish Tourism legislation.
If we add to all of this the high level of repeat business of our clients and the fact that the hotel occupancy in Benidorm this year was 74.6% (Benidorm has been the only Spanish municipality that has been in the top 10 destinations with the highest Hotel occupancy nine months out of twelve) it undoubtedly makes Benidorm a unique holiday destination. Erik Devesa Sik
General manager- commercial area
It´s a pleasure for me to inform you that today we are officially inaugurating the “Hotel Levante Club” blog, a company that belongs to Grupo Centauro.
In this blog, different managers within our company structure will communicate directly with you on a regular basis, giving our opinions on various subjects that we think you may find interesting. Therefore, we will write a small article, minimum once a month , that reflects our opinions on subjects that we consider important in the world of tourism for your information and more importantly your feedback. The idea is not to be sensationalist or controversial, but I would just like to make you appreciate and perhaps become more interested in the various aspects of our sector that you may not be aware of.
We would like you to send any suggestions to blog@hotellevanteclub.com and help us discuss subjects of your interest.
We hope we don t disappoint your expectations and that you can share our comments with your friends, because the more of us involved, the more interesting and nourishing will be our discussions.
Maybe you are already subscribed to other blogs regarding the world of tourism but the majority of them are not written by people involved in the company.
