Benidorm rewards the work of the "giant" of the tourist sector TUI, Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero and the agency Sunsea Travel

The City Council has delivered this morning the Tourism Awards 'City of Benidorm' 2018 with which each year recognizes the work or contribution to tourism carried out by public, business or private entities and this year have gone to the tour operator TUI Group, the Hotel Technological Institute (ITH) and the Sunsea Travel agency in the International, National and Local categories respectively. The awards, approved unanimously by the Board of Spokesmen at the proposal of the mayor, Toni Pérez, include a special mention to the University Institute of Tourism Research of the University of Alicante.

The mayor, Toni Pérez, has presided over the awards ceremony, which was held in the Assembly Hall of the City Council, which has been attended, among others by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Alicante, Joan Llopis, the Vice President of the Chamber de Comercio, Carlos Bañó, the general secretary of Hosbec, Nuria Montes; the manager of the Visit Benidorm Foundation, Leire Bilbao; the deputy Henrick Campos, representatives of the tourism sector and members of the municipal corporation.

The mayor stressed that the Tourism Awards "City of Benidorm" represent a recognition "to the work of entities and people who have put all their efforts into making tourism an activity that promotes the development and welfare of people." On behalf of the entire Corporation, he congratulated the winners for their contributions to the development of tourism from their respective fields and also expressed his satisfaction with the award that Turisme Comunitat Valenciana has awarded to Benidorm Film Office, for its promotional work and tourism communication . In the delivery of this award, scheduled in the afternoon of the same day in Valencia, the mayor stressed that "Benidorm will also have another emotional prominence with the tribute posthumously made to the figure of Roc Gregori, creator of the Valencian Agency in his time as a regional secretary of Tourism and responsible for the tourism area of ​​the Benidorm City Hall for practically his entire working life, a career and merits that Benidorm recognized him in this same celebration in September 2015. "

In his speech, the mayor stressed that "the delivery and dedication of Roc to tourism is an example to follow and in Benidorm," he added, "we collect your witness for, from a collective effort, to remain a tourist destination available to all, more efficient and more sustainable and transform us into the first certified Smart Tourist Destination in the world ".

In this edition of Tourism Awards, Benidorm wanted to assess the trajectory and prestige of the largest group in the tourism sector worldwide, TUI Group, present throughout the European Union, which has travel agencies, receptive agencies, hotels, airlines , cruise ships and tour operators. The director of TUI for the Iberian Peninsula, Ian Livesey, was in charge of collecting the award in the international category, from Leire Bilbao. The leader of TUI thanked the prize, underlining the commitment of his group with Benidorm, a city that he set as an example of economic and tourist development model.

In the national category, the award went to the Technological Hotel Institute (ITH), for the work done in its fifteen years of history in the promotion of the use of new technologies and management systems, contributing to improve competitiveness, profitability, quality and sustainability of companies linked to the hotel and tourism industry. The prize has been collected by the vice president of the Institute, Jesús Gatell, from Joan Llopis.

At the local level, the City Council wanted to recognize the work, the trajectory, and the prestige that has been won nationally and internationally, with a high level of satisfaction, from the travel agency of Benidorm, Sunsea Travel, whose director, George Van Pachterbeke, has collected the award from Carlos Bañó.

Finally, it has been wanted to recognize with a special mention the educational and formative work of the University Institute of Tourist Investigations of the University of Alicante. Its director, José Luis Gascó, collected the prize from the mayor, Toni Pérez. This was the first university institute specializing in tourism research in Spain and currently, among other activities, develops its own degrees such as the Master's Degree in Tourism Management and Planning and a Doctorate that attracts doctoral students from all over Spain and Latin America.

SICTED

The delivery of the Tourism Awards "City of Benidorm" has also served to recognize local companies that have been added this year to the distinctions of the Integral System of Spanish Tourist Quality in Destinations (Sicted), and also to those that have renewed this certification.

The Sicted is a project to improve the quality of tourist destinations promoted by the State Secretariat of Tourism (SET), with the support of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which works with tourist companies / services up to 32 different jobs, with the ultimate goal of improving the experience and satisfaction of tourists.

This year highlights the increase in sectors represented as they have incorporated three new Sicted Benidorm: theme parks, tour guides and tourist apartments. Eight have been the new companies that have received the award in recognition of the commitment to continuous improvement of tourism quality: Terra Natura, Captain Kayak, Juan Llompart Espí, Hotel Olympus, Bingo Plaza SA, Apart 2000 SL, Ribar SL and Costa Blanca Dive.

At the same time, they renew their commitment with this integral and permanent system of quality management, a total of twenty-seven companies and municipal services: Benilux Park, Beniconnect Travel Agency, Hotel Les Dunes Comodoro, La Era Park (Llauror, SL), Office Rincón Tourism, Benidorm Group Buses, Martinez Buses, Aragonese Cava, Tragantúa, Camping Arena Blanca, Armanello Camping, Dolphin Grand Hotel, Corona del Mar Hotel, Don Pancho Hotel, Helios Hotel, Madeira Hotel, Poseidon Hotel, Poseidon Palace Hotel, Hotel Poseidón Playa, Hotel Princesa, Rosamar Hotel, Llorente Bus Grupo Avanza, Tourism Office Center, Aquavision Optics, Levante Beach, Mal Pas Beach and Poniente Beach.