Lisbon, Nov. 13, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal and Spain have joined forces to hold the first ever World Inland Tourism Congress, in Cáceres, in Spain's Extremadura province, from 26 to 28 November, with the aim of eliminating borders to tourism and outlining development strategies for both territories.
At a presentation of the congress to the media in Lisbon, the president of the Iberian Inland Tourism Association (AITI), Miguel Martins, summarised the main objective of the meeting: "to realise that things can also happen in this type of territory."
To this end, he argued, "sometimes you need to hear other perspectives" on how to approach the challenges facing tourism in inland territories, such as mobility and accessibility.
"The congress is going to be a meeting point, with special attention to the centre and Extremadura,... to address a future perspective for this territory," said Esther Gutiérrez, vice-president of the Cáceres regional government.
Gutiérrez emphasised that although the two Iberian countries are physically close, this in itself means nothing if there is no development project.
Also at the presentation, Jesús Viñuales, the director general of tourism for Extremadura, emphasised the creation of "a joint destination, which is A Raia" - the border area.
The vice-president of the tourist board of Portugal's Centre region, Anabela Freitas, argued that the more than 1,200 kilometres of frontier between Portugal and Spain are no more than an administrative line: "It's much more that unites us than separates us."
She highlighted as one of the challenges for tourism in the interior coordination between the various entities active in the field of tourism, such as the Intermunicipal Communities, which receive European Union funds and are keen to enter this sector.
In these cases, Freitas emphasised, the territorial brand is sometimes confused with tourism promotion.
One of the aims of the meeting in Cáceres is thus precisely to strengthen co-operation between public and private entities, stressed Martins, the AITI president.
"The private sector has to make its own way, but before spending thousands of euros on a project, ask us what we think," he said.
The congress features two guest destinations - Idanha-a-Nova in Portugal's Castelo Branco district and Cáceres itself, and is to be attended by 35 universities and 29 exhibitors.
During the meeting, a tourism product will be presented that brings the two regions together, related to the television series 'Game of Thrones' and filmed in the Portuguese village of Monsanto and in various locations in Spain.
The congress will also be attended by the general manager of Flixbus for Portugal and Spain, Pablo Pastega, who will address one of the topics on the agenda, transport.
According to AITI, the aim is to have passenger services between Castelo Branco and Cáceres at least twice a week.
MPE/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
