Toni Pérez exposes Benidorm beach management model in an international webinar

The mayor of Benidorm has participated in the international webinar that SEGITTUR organized yesterday afternoon for a meeting between the Ministries of Tourism of Spain and the Republic of Uruguay for the presentation of the Guide to Solutions in beaches and bathing areas of tourist destinations that SEGITTUR and the DTI Network have developed in the context of Covid-19.

The session was opened by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, highlighting the importance and interest of this Guide to Solutions in Beaches and Bathing Areas for its international application. This guide, which will be distributed throughout Spain and throughout Latin America, is the result of effort and successful experiences contrasted in the summer of 2020 and is applicable to all tourist destinations with beaches and bathing areas.

The Vice Minister of Tourism of Uruguay, Remo Monzeglio, highlighted the trust in the product because Spain has been an example of management and leads the DTI processes. He trusted that Ibero-American tourism managers, industry professionals and the Media would analyze the experiences that were going to be shared and draw the best conclusions.

The president of SEGITTUR, Enrique Martínez, made the presentation of the guide pointing out the three main fronts contemplated: capacity management, tourist information and health security, with details regarding key elements such as the plots of the sandy areas, the reservation systems , management platforms and access control applications, capacity management tools, cameras, sensors and drones that, from now on, coexist with the use and enjoyment of beaches. Martínez also pointed to digital communication and environmental educators, as well as active safety elements and quality seals, thus giving input to the speakers of the round table.

Miguel Mirones, director of the Institute for Tourism Quality of Spain, pointed out the speed of effective response by local administrations and the tourism sector in the development and practical collaboration in the 22 specific protocols developed, endorsed by Health, which have demonstrated their effectiveness, already conformed to the UNE standard and which are laying the foundations for the future ISO standard.

Mirones said that the guide explains the initiatives developed by the municipalities of Benidorm, Santander, Puerto del Rosario, Palma de Mallorca, Finestrat, Salou, Santa Susana, Fuengirola, Marbella, San Sebastián, Conil de la Frontera and Barbate. Then five tourist destinations presented their success stories: three Uruguayans and the Spanish ones from Santander and Benidorm, through their mayors.

Toni Pérez presented the initiatives led by Benidorm, which have all been included in the Beach Solutions Guide, pointing out the characteristics of the very crowded urban beaches of Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas, focusing on the suitability of the subdivision of the units of use and enjoyment, together with the access and exit sectors and the beach crossing strip, modulating 39 access points, with capacity control, which required an extraordinary operation of more than 100 people, who joined the usual operational team, plus 150, for services, cleaning, control and police, which has units on the beach and at sea, supported by drones, which confirmed their effectiveness.

Pérez highlighted another of the milestones applied, such as the sectoral delimitation by age, to increase safety, together with the attention to users and the signage developed for the occasion. The free wi-fi service available became an essential tool in management and communication systems. Finally, the mayor pointed out, the maintenance of the accessible beach service involving greater security protocols. Altogether, the mayor explained, a governance action based on practical elements of innovation, technology, accessibility and sustainability, combining the five axes of the DTI.

The management of the queuing system, indicated the mayor, was one of the most important issues under the concept of offering free and safe beaches, for everyone and every day. The reservation platform was able to arbitrate a system that made it possible to service beaches, with hours, to 2.34 million users from June 15 to October 14 with a peak of 43,000 users per day, on August 15, when until then estimates made over decades established a maximum of 40,000 users / day on our beaches. At this end, the mayor pointed out, in the service quality process, through a survey with the CRM, the degree of satisfaction was 3.45 out of 10 and 70% of the users requested the continuity of the service.

Pérez highlighted the notoriety achieved with the Benidorm DTI + Seguro initiative, of which Benidorm Beach Safety has been a fundamental factor that has reported 55 million hits on Spanish televisions and 18 million hits in the press, to which to add the 18 million hits. impacts on televisions in the United Kingdom and 39 million impacts on the media in that country, which is the main tourist source to Benidorm. He also pointed out to the mayor the 11 million impacts achieved in other countries in Europe and America with these initiatives.

He finally pointed out that Benidorm's beaches are equipped with their security, emergency and contingency plans.

After Benidorm, the mayor of Santander, Gema Igual, intervened in its presentation of success stories, highlighting that the Santander initiative has been a choral project of the City Council whose reward is to be reflected in this guide and pointed out some of its peculiarities.

The experiences developed in the tourist departments of Rocha, Paysandú and Canelones closed the exhibition panel, closing the session from the National Directorate of Tourism of Uruguay, thanking the provision of this guide of solutions to apply on beaches and bathing areas tested in the Spanish DTIs.