Sustainability, the conversion of tourists into destination prescribers and efficiency in the use of data are highlighted in this seventh edition that covers the ten years of the life of the OVB brand.
Overbooking Gran Canaria celebrated this Tuesday, December 20, its seventh edition and its first decade as a brand, consolidating itself as the largest national communication and marketing event dedicated to the tourism sector.
Overbooking Gran Canaria Summit, which in this edition has the motto 'Ten years impacting the tourism business', was held this Tuesday, December 20, in the emblematic Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with more than 500 participants. The event, organized by Tourism of Gran Canaria, noted as one of the most important in the country in tourism communication and marketing, began at nine in the morning with the institutional welcome by Antonio Morales, president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria . Morales took advantage of his intervention to highlight the numerical moment that the destination is going through in its recovery after the pandemic and to highlight the role that tour operators and professionals in general in the tourism sector have had in the most difficult moments throughout the two recent years and has explained that the Cabildo of Gran Canaria is committed to sustainable tourism as a strategic axis of our socioeconomic development.
The president of the Cabildo has placed special emphasis on the importance of communication in the tourism sector, which he considers “key to the development of the sector and this is important because it reinforces the positioning of the Gran Canaria destination. Not only as a leader in offer and service, but as a reference in professional communication that allows us to have stronger, internationally competitive companies, and capable of facing periods of uncertainty better than others." In addition, Morales highlighted the importance of a project like Overbooking both to detect “the strengths and weaknesses of the tourist area on the island and to create professional synergies and emphasize the connection with all agents in the sector that is achieved thanks to public cooperation. private sector that has proven to be a successful combination in which Gran Canaria has been a pioneer.”
Carlos Álamo, Tourism Minister of Gran Canaria, indicated that the competition between destinations is huge at the moment and that the one that knows how to adapt as soon as possible to the new keys of the sector and the priorities of the new client, such as sustainability or digitalization, will triumph. Our task is to reach the potential client with the information that interests them most, such as the footprint or ecological impact. Many of our hotels are well located in this sense but, sometimes, it is difficult for these virtues to reach potential clients when they are now decisive when choosing a destination."
For his part, the managing director of Tourism of Gran Canaria, Pablo Llinares, has taken a tour of the last decade, seeing how the sector has advanced and how tourism communication has evolved since the beginnings of OVB. Llinares has highlighted the intense work of the entity he represents which, together with the work of all the tourism and transversal sectors, has made Gran Canaria one of the leading tourism brands in Europe: “The Gran Canaria tourism brand is “create together,” he stated. The director of Tourism of Gran Canaria has highlighted that in such a changing environment – “a tourism brand always lives in an accelerated environment” – flexibility, the ability to adapt and courage are essential. “We have been a brand that has taken risks. If you want to be a tourist brand you have to be different, and in such an aggressive market, we believe that you have to be daring, take care of your image, very intense work where nothing is left to chance,” he stated.
Llinares has spoken about the importance of creating quality content, the “explosion of young talent” that has emerged in recent years on the island, the importance of sporting and cultural events, the importance of information offices and its fundamental role during the pandemic or the importance of diversifying wealth throughout the island, among other things: “Sustainability is also economic and social.”
The day was hosted by the popular journalist and presenter Victorio Pérez in a setting inspired by a television set in which he acted as a common thread, introducing and saying goodbye to the speakers, guiding the attendees and facilitating the sharing of all opinions. of the participants who have been able to ask their questions through the Slido.com application.
The format of this edition has consisted of a series of experiential talks through interconnected conversations between groups of speakers and individual speakers. The program has been divided into 6 blocks: two of them intended for individual presentations and the other five structured in a talk/debate format that has allowed much more fluidity when it comes to sharing knowledge, experience and anecdotes of the speakers.
In the first debate, Pablo Llinares and Vicente Ros, director of Initiative Spain, participated to talk about the role of marketing and communication to impact the tourism business. Ros has stressed that “the important thing is not where we extract the data from, but how we use it.” In this sense, he has stressed that “being the first to attract high-value tourists is essential” and has placed special emphasis on the importance of knowing how to “predict the data” (the demand that will exist for a destination) and “prioritize it.” .
After the debate, Gonzalo Pastor, responsible for business development at Webedia, spoke with a presentation entitled: “Tourist Z: The key is in the content.” Pastor has highlighted that, according to the data, the third preference of young people is to travel and has stressed that "the emotional variable becomes an inspiration for viewers."
“From an era of change to a change of era” was the title of the following presentation, given by the international branding expert, Andy Stalman, who has outlined the essence and meaning of the brand and its relevance to generating trust in your target audience. Stalman has invited the public to become aware of the importance of building a brand without waiting for ideal conditions to occur because they “don't exist.”
After a round of questions from the public, channeled through the presenter, a second debate began in which experts such as Fabián González (Founder of FORWARD_Travel) participated; Phil González (lecturer and author of 5 books related to RRSS and Social Media); Eduardo Gómez (Head of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Lopesan) or Eladio Bombín (CEO2 of 22GRADOS and creator of Overbooking). Through their interventions they have taken a tour of the evolution of marketing and communication in the tourism sector and its projection into the future.
The day ended with the interventions of Víctor Oliver (Founder of The Route and former Global Director of Digital Campaigns Meliá Hotels International) and Yvonne Gala (Head of Marketing & Ecommerce of Iberia Express) in a talk that revolved around the “travel towards online conversion.”
Since this event was entirely in-person, the opportunity to transform it into a networking space increased exponentially. To enhance this aspect of the event, crucial for creating synergies, OVB prepared a more private area adjacent to the mid-morning coffee break , furnished with comfortable armchairs where attendees could sit and discuss, negotiate, or comment on the presentations that had taken place up to that point.
In that sense, the closing Cocktail of the event has also been designed to once again give attendees and speakers the opportunity for a time of conversation and sharing.
Overbooking Gran Canaria, reaffirms itself in this 2022 edition, as an important “debate platform” for the application of new communication policies for the sector, and as a unique event of its kind from which the present is observed to analyze it, improve it and project it with maximum efficiency towards the future.
Overbooking has the collaboration of 22GRADOS in the organizing aspect, and the sponsoring support of entities such as AON, Coca Cola, Iberia Express and Hospital Universitario San Roque.
