The year 2018 was declared
European Year of Cultural Heritage. Representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament decided to celebrate this year in order to raise awareness of European values and history and strengthen a sense of community identity.
The Catalan Tourist Board joined this initiative with a view to
promoting cultural tourism and organizes a number of specific actions related to this product, providing a specifically ear-marked budget of €4 million.
In doing this, 2018 and 2019 continue the line taken in previous years, which focused on family tourism (2014), inland and mountain tourism (2015), gastronomy and wine tourism (2016) and sustainable tourism (2017).
The challenge facing the Years of Cultural Tourism 2018 and 2019 is to
position culture as a
key,
differentiating factor for the
destination, with tourism playing an essential role: highlighting the value of culture and contributing to its social and economic sustainability.
Thus, it is a two-way challenge whereby
culture strengthens the
uniqueness of cultural tourist attractions, while
tourism ensures the
sustainability of culture.
The Catalan Tourist Board wants to
stress the value of all cultural heritage, from the internationally renowned to the more local and less known. Cultural heritage is found all over Catalonia and the aim is to constantly improve the balance between the different regions and ensure that the economic benefits of cultural tourism are widely distributed.
The
goals of the Year of Cultural Tourism in Catalonia are to:
- Link culture as a differentiating factor more closely to the Catalonia brand.
- Increase the volume of tourism income by offering a higher value tourism experience.
- Promote the creation of a quality offer oriented towards quality demand, by transforming cultural resources into saleable tourism products.
- Stress Catalonia’s value as a destination of self-governed, sustainable and competitive destinations, promoting better territorial distribution of tourism.
- Take this opportunity to reduce seasonal differences in tourism, highlighting the tourism value of Catalan culture.
- Increase the consumption of cultural tourism experiences by visitors once in Catalonia.
- Maximise the benefits that culture which takes advantage of tourism can also offer local residents.
The Catalan Tourist Board organizes and takes part in
300 actions with a budget of €4 million, the highest yet for a tourism-themed year.
The
priority markets are: France, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Germany, Russia, Italy, Belgium and Scandinavia; and on a secondary level: the USA, Australia, China, Japan and Chile.
The tourism and cultural industries in Catalonia are fully involved in organising and executing the different actions in the Year of Cultural Tourism , including both their own and those proposed by the Catalonia Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
If you would like to publicise actions in the Year of Cultural Tourism in the social media, you can use the
hashtags #catalunyaexperience, #somcultura and #anyturismecultural
Year of Cultural Tourism dossier
List of Year of Cultural Tourism 2019 actions in the press dossier 2019. You can download it at the following link:
You can also consult the press dossier of the Year of Cultural Tourism 2018 in these links:
Logos and application manual
You can download the logo 2019 and application manual at the following links:
If you need the logo in another language (German, Danish, Korean, Estonian, Finnish, Hebrew, Dutch, Italian, Icelandic, Japanese, Norwegian, Occitan, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish or Chinese), please contact the Design Manager of the Catalan Tourist Board, Ramon Balsalobre:
rbalsalobre@gencat.cat
Videos
Publications
- Catalonia, Experience and Discover Art and Culture: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Dutch
- Routes in Catalonia: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Germany and Russian
- Routes and Getaways: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Germany and Dutch
- Catalonia, Gastronomic Experiences: Catalan, Spanish, English, French and German
- Wine Tourism in Catalonia: Catalan, Spanish, English, French and German
Related Links
