Valenciaport and the Valencia Provincial Council are fostering a tourism ecosystem around cruises through open training programs.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 63 – December 2022
By Félix González
The Port Authority of Valencia and the Provincial Council of Valencia organized two training days on "Cruise Tourism" aimed at municipal technicians and tourism agents with the objective of providing them with theoretical and operational knowledge about the industry.
They sought to improve and expand the tourist offer that the Valencia destination offers with sustainable experiences in municipalities of the province, beyond the city of Valencia, and to deseasonalize cruise tourism that makes a stop in the Port of Valencia.
Francesca Antonelli, Head of Marketing and Cruises at the Port Authority of Valencia (APV), pointed out that “for a sustainable port like Valencia, which wants to redistribute the wealth generated by cruise traffic, an initiative like these conferences is very important so that more municipalities in the province can take advantage of this tourism and explore the possibility of organizing excursion offers for cruise passengers.”.
Kayaking along the Turia River and finishing with a delicious rice dish is one of the active tourism options.
The first meeting was held in June, and 30 municipal technicians and tourism companies attended, showing their interest in formulating a proposal for an excursion adapted to the needs of cruise companies.
Monte Alonso, General Manager of the tour operator Calypso Tours, led the most practical session on how to prepare a cruise excursion, which proved very interesting for the attendees.
Xavi Pasqual, director of the Provincial Tourism Board of Valencia, stated that “by working together and hand in hand with tourism service companies and destinations we can offer much more to cruise passengers and give them a wider range of excursions to take when they stop in the city, so that they ultimately have a broader and more satisfying experience.”.
In November, a second day was organized, with the participation of Jordi Guiol, from BC Tours, who explained how to prepare an excursion offer for cruise ships, what to take into account and what the appropriate promotion channels are.
At the event, the head of Cruise Promotion at Visit Valencia, Máximo Caletrio, presented the range of excursions available in Valencia and the companies and institutions involved in the management and operation of cruises in Valencia, as well as the actors in the cruise value chain.
NEW EXPERIENCES FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS IN THE PROVINCE OF VALENCIA
Wine Tourism. Vegamar Winery
Located in the town of Calles, 50 minutes from Valencia, Vegamar is a family-run boutique winery with 100% of its own production on land within the Alto Turia Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO. Cruise passengers can stroll through the vineyards and taste their wines, as well as visit centuries-old olive groves and pick their own oranges and wild herbs to create their own souvenir.
Cultural and gastronomic tourism. Discover the Valencian countryside.
Just 6 km from the port of Valencia, cruise passengers can explore the Valencian countryside, its traditions, and gastronomy. In the village of Borbotó, visitors will enjoy a guided tour of the Mediterranean garden and organic orchard, learning about its history, typical crops, and the irrigation system. Afterward, those who wish can cook a Valencian paella over a wood fire and then enjoy it in this unique setting, just like on a traditional Valencian Sunday.
Vicent Lluch, the project manager, points out that they have been receiving cruise ship excursions since 2017, but they attended the conference to share experiences with other tour operators and make new contacts within the industry. They particularly appreciated the clarity with which the working methods of cruise tour operators and the required quality standards were explained. Their primary market is European secondary schools between February and July, and they believe that cruise ships can be a very important complementary market for their business.
The Turia National Park is especially conducive to the sighting of unique birds.
Active tourism in Riba-Roja
There are several activities around the Turia River and its surroundings, declared a Natural Park in 2007. It is a true green lung near Valencia where various activities can be carried out.
Descent of the Turia River and tasting of Turia Riverbank Rice.
Valencia Adventure is the company responsible for this activity, which can be enjoyed just 30 minutes from Valencia by kayak or raft, with an estimated duration of 2 hours. The experience can be adapted for people with disabilities upon request. The tour can be complemented with a tasting of Turia Riverbank Rice, a traditional dish made with ingredients from the Turia region's fertile plains. Prior to this event, they had never worked with the cruise industry, but the company's owners are very excited that this type of tourism will help them reduce the seasonality of their business. To this end, they have provided wetsuits for their clients.
Nordic Walking and a Turia Riverside Rice Workshop:
Another way to explore the Turia Natural Park is by hiking one of the trails along the banks of the Turia River using Nordic Walking. Aimed at people between 50 and 75 years old, this activity can be adapted for people with disabilities and offers a true immersion in nature.
Javier Espinosa points out that the workshops helped him adapt his proposal to the needs of the industry in terms of price and quality.
Birdwatching
is another fascinating way to connect with nature, and the Turia National Park is a particularly attractive option, boasting unique birds and a wide variety of habitats. It's an ideal activity to enjoy in winter, spring, and autumn, and lasts approximately three hours.
The Visigothic site of Pla de Nadal:
Pla de Nadal consists of the remains of a Visigothic royal villa (7th century), and is one of the most important archaeological sites of that era in Europe due to its sculptural quality.
The visit begins at the Visigothic Museum of Pla de Nadal, where visitors can learn about the historical context of the archaeological site. Later, participants travel by bus to the site, where they will meet several historical figures portrayed in theatrical performances. These performances will introduce visitors to the Visigothic world and its aristocratic way of life, culture, gastronomy, and even jewelry. Due to the site's layout, this activity cannot be adapted for people with reduced mobility.
As a complement to the visit, a Visigothic menu has been created that is sure to surprise with its exceptional nature.
For the managers of Arca Cultural, the cruise ship excursion allowed them to strengthen their ties with the cruise industry and develop a proposal tailored to the timing, pricing, and availability requirements of tour operators. Furthermore, it represents a step towards reaching an international audience, as their usual visitors are domestic, and cruise ship excursions would help them further reduce the seasonality of their business.
Ceramic Crafts in Manises
Just over 15 minutes from Valencia lies the town of Manises, renowned for its ceramics. Lucrecia Scarabaggio attended the workshops representing three initiatives from the Manises City Council, which has made significant efforts to attract tourism, especially from Northern Europe, where ceramics are highly valued. These workshops broadened her perspective on how to cater to the needs of cruise ship passengers, as she found the information provided to be comprehensive and enriching.
Cerámicas Palanca
Taller de loza amarilla, which is distinguished mainly by the artisanal manufacture of the famous mortars, in which you can see from beginning to end how a mortar is made step by step.
Arturo Mora's Workshop: Gold Luster Pottery.
During the visit, attendees will discover how lusterware is made, how a piece is created on the potter's wheel, and will have the opportunity to sit down and create a pottery piece under the artisan's guidance. Arturo Mora's workshop specializes in the medieval technique of metallic luster, and part of its production consists of reproductions of historical pieces that are now housed in important museums around the world.
Valencian Association of Ceramics AVEC – Guild
This experience includes a tour of the workshop-school and its exhibition of ceramic pieces from Manises, ending the visit in the shop where you can buy a souvenir.
Agritourism at Huerto Ribera: Unique Visits.
Huerto Ribera offers an experience among orange groves where you can learn about this traditional Valencian crop while strolling through its gardens with their beautiful scenery and discovering different varieties of citrus fruits. Visitors have the opportunity to pick their own oranges, and finally, they visit the warehouse where the fruit is brushed and sorted before being shipped to their homes. This tour concludes with a tasting of locally sourced, artisanal orange products.
Elena Bober, who is in charge of the proposal, says that they already work with cruise lines and that the experience is very popular with both European and American tourists, but that during the day she learned a lot about the segmentation of companies into different market niches, so that she has been able to put together personalized tour proposals for different needs.
Valencia, a highly rated destination.
The city of Valencia is a medium-sized and sustainable cruise destination, with annual growth of 2%. In 2019, the Port of Valencia received 203 cruise ship calls and 435,000 cruise passengers. According to a study by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), spending associated with cruise activity has generated a total economic impact of approximately €71 million on the economy of the city of Valencia and its surrounding area. Each cruise passenger who disembarked at the Port of Valencia spent an average of €146.50.
All participants highlighted the quality of the information provided during the sessions.
The report's data indicates that the vast majority of visitors come from Europe: specifically, 19.3% from Italy, 19% from Germany, 17.9% from England, and 10.6% from France. Notably, 10.2% of tourists from outside Europe come from the United States.
The average length of stay for these visitors in Valencia is 4.1 hours for cruise passengers with a pre-booked excursion and 4.7 hours for those disembarking without a guided tour from the ship. The average cruise tourist stopping in Valencia is 52 years old. By age group, 37.9% are over 60, 33.2% are between 41 and 60, 15.4% are between 21 and 40, and 13.6% are under 20. Regarding gender, 52.4% are women and 47.4% are men.
INTERVIEW WITH FRANCESCA ANTONELLI, MARKETING MANAGER AP VALENCIA
How did the idea for these workshops come about, and what was their main objective?
Social and environmental sustainability in cruise traffic has been a cornerstone of the Valencia Port Authority's strategy, which it shares with all stakeholders in its cruise community. In this regard, in discussions with our partners, the Valencia Provincial Council and Visit Valencia, we wanted to establish a meeting point to expand the tourism offerings that Valencia provides for cruise passengers, with sustainable experiences in municipalities throughout the province, beyond the city of Valencia itself. With this, we aim to continue working on diversifying the flow of cruise passengers and further reducing the seasonality of cruise tourism in our region. On many occasions since the pandemic, we have received inquiries from tourism professionals and municipal technicians such as: "How can we attract cruise passengers to our municipality?" However, these conversations revealed some gaps in knowledge about this sector and the stakeholders involved in shaping the Shorex offering.
From this arose the idea of holding a series of training sessions to introduce specific aspects of this type of tourism to tourism professionals in our province, inviting them to a morning of training where they could have their questions answered about how to implement a Shorex experience for different cruise lines and their clients. In fact, for our president, Aurelio Martínez, who inaugurated the first session with Toni Gaspar, president of the Valencia Provincial Council, this initiative is situated within a context of change in the cruise tourism sector: “Currently, there is a restructuring of the cruise system throughout the Mediterranean, with saturated ports and changes in the demands of cruise passengers, who are increasingly requesting experiential cruises, nature-based experiences, and sustainability… It is a historic opportunity to reflect on what we want to do with the sector, to seek alternatives for diversifying passenger flows, and to continue working to reduce the seasonality of cruises by taking advantage of the unbeatable characteristics of the Valencian region and our pleasant climate.” At Valenciaport, we believe that these events serve to take advantage of the richness of the spaces, the cultural offerings and the natural landscapes of many municipalities in Valencia, seeking their involvement and making known the potential for positive economic impact that this traffic has.
How did the tourism sector respond to this proposal?
To date, we have held two workshops with the participation of 60 municipal technicians and tourism companies, and the third is already scheduled for the first quarter of the year. Participants in the first two workshops congratulated us not only on the initiative itself but also on the clarity with which we presented the fundamental pillars of this traffic and for providing them with the opportunity to have a tour operator explain what needs to be considered when formulating a Shorex proposal. Many attendees were unaware of the different types of cruise lines and the profile of cruise passengers arriving in Valencia, as well as the vast number of stakeholders involved in a port call. Inviting a tour operator was key, as, in the second part of the workshop, they explained to the attendees the key aspects to consider when developing a new proposal, including the target cruise audience, logistical aspects, demand trends, and more.
Cruise passengers are increasingly demanding experiential cruises, nature-based cruises, and sustainable cruises.
We wanted the day to be a call to action, so that participants would leave with a strong motivation to explore whether their municipality or their company's offer is feasible and appealing for tour operators to integrate into their portfolio of shorex offers for shipping companies.
Some participants were even surprised that the port took this initiative. How important is it for the port to have a good and varied range of excursions for a cruise line to decide to call at the city?
Thanks to the excellent collaboration with our partners, the Provincial Council of Valencia and Visit Valencia, we at the Port Authority know that our work goes beyond simply promoting our port infrastructure and services. We are convinced that in this sector, the port and destination stakeholders must work hand in hand to be innovative and ensure that the municipalities that host cruise passengers are involved and committed to quality service and an attractive offering, always under the premise of social and environmental sustainability. Ultimately, we want them to feel like partners and be able to benefit from everything we know cruise traffic brings: promotion, employment, business diversification, and so on.
However, cruise traffic is neither a major nor a significant source of income for the port. Is addressing these issues more about maximizing and sharing benefits with the region and local businesses out of a sense of moral obligation?
As we've already stated, it's about a commitment to our destinations and our people. Ports serve our clients—the cruise lines, of course—but also the businesses and individuals who serve our visitors. We not only want this positive economic impact to be visible, but also for them to be instrumental in shaping the experiences our cruise passengers will have in the Valencian Community.
In that regard, have you found all the support you expected from the other institutions?
Without a doubt, from the very beginning, we've found every door open to launch these workshops. The Provincial Council is familiar with the key players and tourism promotion entities in the province, and the event was organized in conjunction with them, as it should be. Having the expertise of Máximo Caletrio, head of cruise traffic at Visit Valencia, is also a major advantage, because the workshops also showcase the existing offerings, allowing attendees to learn about current activities, which experiences are popular with which types of cruise passengers, and so on.
Do you believe that the outcome of these workshops will significantly impact the excursion offerings compared to the previous ones?
We are confident that we are providing a valuable service to tourism stakeholders in our province. In fact, some municipalities or companies may choose not to explore this avenue because they have concluded that, for whatever reason, their offerings don't align with the cruise lines' demands for their passengers. However, in many cases, thanks to these workshops, synergies are being created, along with avenues to explore with tour operators to develop alternative Shorex-style offers and experiences.
Will these events continue?
Yes, after the third session, which we will hold in the first few months of the year, we will assess whether there is still interest in holding further sessions. But the most important thing is that we now have an open channel of communication with companies and municipalities that want to develop a specific offering for cruise ships. We know that some have already started and will soon present their ideas to us. We have committed to helping them in any way we can so that they can contact tour operators and sell their proposals. For our part, we will integrate these new ideas into the portfolio we present at the various industry events and help promote this diversification.
INTERVIEW WITH XAVI PASCUAL, DIRECTOR OF THE PROVINCIAL PATRONAT OF TURISME DE VALÈNCIA
How and in what way did the Valencia Provincial Council become involved in this project?
The Valencia Provincial Council's commitment to cruise tourism in recent years has materialized through coordinated work with the Visit Valencia Foundation, firstly, and then through coordinated work between the two institutions and the Port Authority, in order to create specific tourist experiences and excursions for cruise passengers, based on their preferences and the unique characteristics that these must have to be attractive and interesting for them.
To this end, training programs have been scheduled for tourism businesses in the province of Valencia, as well as for the municipalities and intermunicipal associations that have chosen to invest in this highly specialized form of tourism. Likewise, collaborative work has been carried out with both the Visit Valencia Foundation and the Port Authority to develop specific content about the tourism offerings of the province of Valencia for guides specializing in cruise tourism.
To what extent are these initiatives important for developing a successful tourism offering to present to the cruise industry?
These initiatives are fundamental for developing a tourism offering capable of reaching the cruise industry and all that it entails. They provide businesses and destinations with the vision of a new market niche, giving them management tools for creating a specific product aimed at a new customer: the cruise passenger.
These actions and the joint strategy developed also aim to increase the tourism offerings available to cruise ships calling at the city of Valencia and, consequently, redirect cruise ship visitors to other areas and locations within the province, thus helping to prevent overcrowding of cruise ship tourism in the city of Valencia. It is important for the Provincial Council of Valencia that cruise passengers are aware of the tourism potential of the rest of the province and how both the private sector and public administrations are working to create an attractive and sustainable tourism offering with sufficient appeal and interest for this type of tourist.
What was the participants' response or assessment?
The initiatives have been very well received, both by tourism service companies and by municipalities and intermunicipal associations. In some cases, very interesting and attractive excursions and experiences have already been developed for cruise passengers, which we hope will soon be incorporated into the offers presented to them, so that when they decide to travel to Valencia on a cruise, they can book them. As a result of these efforts, some visits to municipalities have already been carried out to learn firsthand about these experiences and/or tourist routes and thus be able to finalize them so that they are offered in the most suitable way for the cruise passenger profile. So far, the various scheduled training sessions have reached their full capacity.
Will these workshops continue? And will there be follow-up/support for participants who have adapted their proposals based on the concepts learned?
A follow-up event is already being planned for the spring, given the interest the initiative has generated in the province of Valencia. Of course, follow-up and support are being provided to participants by both the Provincial Council's technical staff and the staff of Visit Valencia and the Port Authority. Our commitment in this area is to promote and support all initiatives, and to provide guidance and follow-up to participants in each one. Our goal is to incorporate some of the tourist routes and experiences developed in these workshops during 2023, and to ensure that the tourism offerings presented to cruise passengers are increasingly broader, more comprehensive, and more diverse.
