Next Thursday, September 12, the most representative professional communication and marketing meeting in the country dedicated to the tourism sector will take place, a forum organized by Turismo de Gran Canaria, which has been joined in this edition by Hosteltur, a reference media outlet in the sector.
The Minister of Tourism has highlighted the Congress as a forum “for those professionals who want to train, inform and update themselves in order to contribute to increasing the competitiveness of Gran Canaria as a tourist destination”
“Overbooking Gran Canaria & Hosteltur Summites is the Gran Canaria Tourism forum that has become a reference meeting for those professionals who want to train, inform, update and discuss trends in communication and tourism marketing.” This is how Carlos Álamo, Gran Canaria Tourism Councillor, began the press conference to present this Congress, which is now in its twelfth edition. The Alfredo Kraus Auditorium (Canary Islands Conference Centre) will once again host this professional event, which will be held in the Jerónimo Saavedra hall next Thursday, 12 September.
The councillor highlighted the new addition of Hosteltur to this initiative as a co-organiser, a sectoral media outlet and a reference publication in the sector for 30 years, which has decided to join this forum and which will allow it to have a presence at a national level.
The Gran Canaria Tourism headquarters has been the setting for this informative meeting, in which Manuel Molina, director of Hosteltur, partner of Gran Canaria Tourism in the organization of this edition, and Vanessa Morales, director of Expansion of 22GRADOS, also participated online. Councillor Carlos Álamo has given some details on the expected participation, with more than 400 registered so far, of which more than 200 are attending for the first time. By sector, accommodation and marketing and communication professionals share a figure close to 20% and professionals from tourism promotion organizations 16,5%. It was recalled that free registration to participate in person can still be made on the official website of the forum. https://ovbgrancanaria.com/.
“Transformative Marketing” is the focus of this year’s Overbooking Gran Canaria & Hosteltur Summit. This conceptualisation will be developed through a complete programme made up of professionals from national and international organisations who will deal with topics ranging from the traveller’s experience to communication, exploring the way in which organisations enhance their competitive advantages through marketing. The speakers will share, through debates and presentations, the strategies they have developed and how these have brought profitable results to their organisations.
Knowing how large companies and brands act, how they communicate and what strategies they follow is essential to continue improving the experience of users, consumers and tourists, and Overbooking Gran Canaria & Hosteltur Summit contributes to the dissemination of this knowledge and experiences. Furthermore, as the Minister of Tourism highlighted, this meeting “is an opportunity for networking between tourism, marketing and communication professionals, facilitating the exchange of information and knowledge, and favouring the creation of synergies between the agents of the tourism industry”.
Carlos Álamo gave way to Manuel Molina, stating that “we are aware that technological change is unstoppable, and its development should not be restricted to large corporations, it should be aimed at all types of companies, so that their processes become more agile and efficient.” For this reason, transformative marketing and its influence on tourism are the focus of this new professional meeting, which “is once again gaining ground with the incorporation of Hosteltur, a specialized media outlet that has been a reference for information for three decades now.”
Manuel Molina thanked “the opportunity to join this initiative with a long history”, pointing out that Overbooking Gran Canaria is an event that “is absolutely established in the agenda of professionals in the Canary Islands, but with this association it is given a new dimension, especially geographically”. He highlighted the great interest in the contents of this event since its beginnings, which they have been covering since 2012, the year of its first edition. Being an active part of this Congress “represents a step for us because, coinciding with what the councillor stated, our objective is also to train as well as inform industry professionals”.
Vanessa Morales, Expansion Director at 22GRADOS, said that “Gran Canaria will once again be the epicentre of innovation in tourism marketing next Thursday, 12 September.” She said that the programme “seeks to connect us with the era of acceleration, which has gone from being in the hands of large companies and organisations, and that the tourism sector also needs to adapt its communication and marketing strategies to the new traveller.” At Overbooking Gran Canaria & Hosteltur Summit, they will talk about how to attract a traveller with whom there are multiple opportunities to connect from the moment of planning the trip until they are at the destination and also afterwards. These are, in short, opportunities “to delight them, surprise them and capture their interest” and, in this edition, the multiple ways of reaching the customer are considered, as well as delving into how technology and the integration of artificial intelligence are impacting tourism.
The 22GRADOS representative pointed out that the Congress will begin with content that is especially interesting for entrepreneurs and startups, by bringing together two high-level speakers, such as Jorge Schoenenberger, founding partner of WinningBoards and General Partner at Traveltech.vc, former CEO of the Viajes El Corte Inglés group; and Pere Vallès, CEO of Exoticca, an online travel operator that is considered one of the “white Spanish unicorns”. In a conversation that will be moderated by Manuel Molina, they will talk about the digital business and how to build companies that have long-term competitive advantages.
The development and advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be the focus of the Congress, while Ricardo Fernández, CEO of Destinia, will speak about digital analytics, explaining how to use it to understand customer interests. Through an immersive journey, F. Javier Escorihuela, CEO of Isostopy, will learn about the technology behind Apple's Vision Pro glasses. Sara Vicioso, president of the IAB Spain influencer commission and Head of Influencer Marketing GroupM, will speak about how influencer marketing has positioned itself as an important advertising channel in audience decision-making.
Next, the topic of customer diversification will be addressed. First, Magí Castelltort, Tourism advisor in New York, will present the opportunities offered by American tourism. Next, Sandra Andújar, president and co-founder of Elite Excellence - Spanish Federation of Luxury, will share the strategies to connect with new segments such as high-spending customers. A segment that, according to Morales, “is gaining weight in the strategies of Tourism of Gran Canaria”.
The next debate, also moderated by the director of Hosteltur, will be on “Navigating in a global world”, in which communication directors of major hotel brands will analyse the evolution of tourism communication. María Umbert, Corporate Communications Senior Director of Meliá Hotels Internacional; Iván Carballido, Director of Corporate Communications for Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) of Hyatt Hotels Corporation; and Anna Viladot, Global Head of External Communications at Vueling Airlines, will participate in this dialogue. Together they will also discuss the integration of Artificial Intelligence into their work and reputation management in global companies.
As a way of continuing to inspire new forms of communication in all its aspects, the closing event will feature the participation of Jesús Plaza, a prominent Film & Creative Director. This tireless explorer of generative AI, who fuses art and technology to create innovative pieces, will show how Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing audiovisual content and the way of interacting with the consumer.
It is worth noting that this year the experience of organizing an Exhibition parallel to the conferences will be repeated, where companies related to the tourism sector will show their activity in relation to the theme of this edition 'technological services and tourism'.
