French travel agents visit the Costa del Sol

French travel agents belonging to the Selectour network have been to the Costa del Sol in a trip organised by the Costa del Sol Tourist Board and the Spanish Tourist Office (OET) in Paris, after being contacted by Air Europa. The group comprised ten travel agents and a writer for a prestigious travel magazine. They were escorted by representatives of Air Europa and the OET in Paris.

With 540 members, Selectour is one of the leading French travel agent networks. Moreover, last month it merged with AFAT, whose offices amount to 630. The merger, resulting in a network of 1,170 POS, will become effective on January 1, 2010.

In June, we were present in the Selectour intranet through the Air Europa virtual office, showing our presentation of the Costa del Sol at the OET in Paris. The presentation included promotional videos by the Tourist Board and Air Europa, and a quiz competition on our travel destination. The ten travel agents who came to the Costa del Sol answered all the questions. They were the best Air Europa salespeople for Spain.

The group stayed in Málaga for two nights. On day one, they attended a presentation of the Costa del Sol at the Tourist Board’s headquarters, followed by a sightseeing tour of the historic district, which included the Cathedral, the Arab Fortress, the Roman Theatre, and the Picasso Museum. Afterwards, they had launch in a typical restaurant in town. In the afternoon they went to Mijas Pueblo, where they stayed for a wine tasting session and dinner at the Wine Museum.

On day 2, they went on tours of Antequera and Ronda, where they had lunch and then stay at the Parador for the night. Also in Ronda, they took a tour of the historic district and had dinner at a well-known restaurant.

On the last day, they visited the coastal area –Marbella and Puerto Banús– and had lunch before catching the plane that would take them back home.

This fam trip planned by the Tourist Board was organised with the help of Turismo Andaluz, Turespaña, Barceló Hotels and Resorts, and the Town Halls of the towns visited.

The French travel agents were surprised at the wide array of travel products and services available on the Costa del Sol, both in the hinterland and the coastal area. We gave them promotional material and volunteered to provide all the information they might need on our travel destination.