GIBRALTAR is throwing off its image as a two-week destination and will market itself to agents as ideal for short breaks.
In a speech outlining his plans for the Rock, tourism minister Joseph Holliday said his government was targeting four principal markets – city-break trips, day trips from Spain, the conference and incentives sector and the cruise and yachting market.
Over 250 agents are due to be taken on an educational to the destination over this year, with the express purpose of learning how the region will suit a two or three-day stay.
And with Monarch Airlines joining GB Airways in offering a daily service to the Rock from May, there is now more opportunity to take short visits.
Holliday said the Gibraltar was already successful in the day-trip market, primarily from Spain, with 6.5m visitors arriving through the border in 1998, but wanted to boost that further. Historical tours, dolphin watching, diving facilities, St Michael’s Cave and the Upper Rock are all being developed for this purpose.
He added that Gibraltar is starting to make a name in the conference and incentive field with The Eliot and The Rock Hotel now offering state-of-the-art equipment for small conferences of up to 100 delegates. The Caleta Palace Hotel is following suit and St Michael’s Cave, a dramatic area inside the Rock, is being sold as a venue for dinner and concerts.
Holliday said cruising and yachting were the final targets, with Gibraltar having seen a sharp increase in the volume of cruise business it had attracted recently. There were 99 cruise calls in 1997, rising to 135 in 1998.