The Territorial Delegate of Tourism of the Junta de Andalucía, Vicente García Egea, met this morning in Olula del Río, with mayors and councillors of the region who have been beneficiaries of the Munitic aids, aids for the implementation of technologies in municipal tourism resources. Representatives of the region’s tourism entrepreneurs also took part in the meeting.
The Mayor of Olula del Río welcomed the participants, acknowledging the work of the Regional Ministry and the delegate in particular, who «had promised us to work for our land and is doing so. I am grateful in the first person for your effort, work and dedication. Our municipalities need this aid. Municipalism must have a strong presence in the Junta de Andalucía».
The Delegate went on to give figures for this aid; «in this case we have brought 170,000 euros, which has meant an overall amount of more than 700,000 euros for the whole province,» he said.
«All the towns in the region have things to show, which are important, even more so if they are valued as a whole. If we want to create a powerful tourist destination, we have to unite these resources. We have examples such as geotourism (Macael, Arboleas, Serón) which is a launching product. It is one of the strategic lines that will receive greater investment, within the overall strategy to be carried out,» said García Egea, who insisted that the proposals of each municipality «must be given a cross-cutting nature. Strength lies in unity,» he said.
García Egea highlighted the «boost» that the new technologies represent for the enhancement of the ethnographic, cultural, monumental, religious and industrial heritage of this area of the province, specifically in the municipalities of Olula del Río, Macael, Purchena, Suflí, Arboleas, Albox and Serón.
Each of the representatives of these municipalities presented at the meeting the different projects they are working on, which include websites, apps, 360º videos and audio guides in different languages.
«We don’t know where people come from to visit us,» said the mayor of Arboleas, Cristóbal García, whose municipality has been working for years on a complex containing eight crystal mines. «Some Swedish visitors came and it was complicated to try to convey to them our rich heritage, in this case the extraction of lapis specularis with which the Romans later decorated their buildings».
According to the Tourism Delegate, «we have to be aware that we have to create a regional tourist destination, because strength lies in unity and we have to be generous when thinking that, when we invest in a launching product, the whole region benefits, as the offer is complemented by hotels, restaurants and trails,» he said, concluding that the «success of the inland tourist destinations that they deserve so much will come from regionalisation and sustainable development as a post-pandemic opportunity.