Redesign its offer of 'running' and bets to consolidate as host of the stages of national and international football and cycling clubs
In 2017 there are scheduled more than 35 sporting events with more than 11,000 participants
Consolidated as the main destination of the Mediterranean sun and beach, Benidorm now seeks to open new market niches and position itself as a benchmark for sports tourism, taking advantage of its climatic conditions, its natural environment, and the public and private facilities that the city has.
In the tourist fair of Madrid (Fitur), which this morning has started in Ifema, Benidorm will make visible its sports offer, which "throughout the year includes more than 35 events of more than 15 different modalities in which will exceed the 11,000 professional and amateur national and international participants, "explained the mayor, Toni Pérez, in a press conference. Within this offer, Fundación Visit Benidorm has decided to give a special role to the running and the various tests of this discipline included in the sports calendar, with the edition of a specific booklet that will be released in FITUR. This promotion of 'running' is in addition to what the Foundation is already doing on the possibilities offered by Benidorm, for facilities and natural environment, for the practice of other modalities such as diving, hiking, golf and cycling.
But we also want to take advantage of the first great event of the year to show the potential of the city as the venue for the winter European club stages of different modalities and consolidate in this segment. The mayor said that "Benidorm has already begun to take its first steps in this direction, hosting this month the preparatory meetings of nine clubs of first division football in European leagues." Some stages have been developed in municipal and private facilities and, in addition to generating hotel stays and income for the city, have achieved a promotion and media impact for the destination in potential sending countries like Germany, Poland, Switzerland or Belgium.
Pérez has indicated that "also several professional cycling clubs have been or are doing their preseason in Benidorm," adding that "the intention is to intensify efforts so that in successive years that presence will increase and have more tour throughout the winter ".
The mayor has slipped that the promotion of the promotion of Benidorm as a sporting destination must be accompanied by an improvement of the facilities, generating investments that allow to develop projects and infrastructures. In addition, it has opted to increase contacts to ensure that Benidorm hosts national and international events, competitions and events that attract large audiences and serve as a stimulus for the occupation at specific times of the year.
Likewise, it has pointed out that this commitment to sports tourism is not accidental or improvised, but is due to the important market opportunities offered by this growing segment. In fact, international sports tourism grew by 9.57% in 2014, and only the Spanish spent 595 million on trips related to sport, which is already one of the three motivations to travel. Following the figures, residents in Spain made 3.1 million trips for reasons linked to sport, 9% more than the previous year and 50.8% more than in 2009.
Running
Following the study and detailed analysis carried out by the Foundation Visit Benidorm to test the strengths and weaknesses of the city's offer in terms of running and cycling, and which has been worth Visit Benidorm to be certified in intelligence Tourist by AENOR under the UNE 166006/2011 standard of technological surveillance and competitive intelligence, the city has redesigned its sports calendar.
Thus, the City Council has chosen to change the date of its star test of 'running', the Half Marathon, "in which in 2016 participated more than 1,500 runners, which until now had been held in November and moved to March 2018 ", keeping the 10K test alone on the original date. The mayor said that "this change of date has been adopted taking into account the opportunities detected by the Visit Benidorm Foundation together with the Athletics Club and the Department of Sports, as has also been chosen to turn it into a night test to give a Plus differentiator compared to other tests ".
Main events and modalities
Within the range of sporting events, Benidorm maintains the most relevant events and competitions held in previous years. This is the case of the Costa Blanca Football Cup, which takes place in July and which involves some 4,000 children from a minimum of 270 teams from more than 18 countries, generating around 24,000 direct overnight stays.
Previously, in April takes place the Benidorm Cup, oriented also to base soccer and in which about 500 participants are expected.
The first event of international relevance will be at the end of this month, with the Costablanca Bike Race, a test included in the calendar of the UCI, and involving some 250 national and international cyclists, including Olympic medalists Carlos Coloma and Anna van Der Breggen.
In April will be the time of the VI Triwhite Triathlon of Benidorm, in which will be cited about 650 athletes; And the end of the month will be played the Costablanca Basket Cup, which last year brought together 1,200 participants.
In October, Benidorm repeats itself as the venue for a test of the international circuit of open water for professionals and amateurs Oceanman, which in 2016 passed 600 athletes from more than 20 countries. Also important is the international participation in the 10 Kilometers, which last year disputed about 1,000 runners and that will take place in November.
In addition, throughout the year will be disputed two championships of Spain, those of the Fit-Kid modalities and those of Wako-Taekwondo.
Adapted Sport
Also the adapted sport has its space in the sport calendar of Benidorm, in consonance with the commitment of the destination with the accessibility. Thus, the city again hosts the Day of Adapted Sport corresponding to the XXXV Jocs Esportius of the Region of Valencia; While the Costa Blanca Cup repeats 'Inclusive' tournament in which several first division clubs that have teams formed by players with intellectual disabilities
Facilities for football 'stages'
Benidorm currently has facilities to practice football in the Ciudad Deportiva Guillermo Amor and in the Rincón de Loix, and this winter have already hosted the stages of nine European clubs. In the first one there is the Guillermo Amor stadium, the central field of the athletics track and the artificial grass field of soccer 11 that is modulated in two football fields 7. In the fields Antonio López del Rincón there are two football fields 11 And four football 7.
To this municipal offer have recently added the facilities of Hotel Villaitana, with two football fields 11 and another two football 7.