“The demand studies for the AVE station at the airport are very positive”

2023-05-05 06:30:41

“We have a great opportunity with the AVE station at Girona airport. The demand studies for this station are so positive they are scary“, Xavier Flores, general secretary of infrastructures of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) of the Government of Spain, assured yesterday.

Flores was present at seventh day of the Jordi Comas Matamala Foundation and the Catalan Tourism Agency of the Generalitat of Catalonia, “Tourism, Territory and Society” (TTS), which took place yesterday in Calella de Palafrugell.

Together with the journalist Xavier Graset, director of the More 324who acted as moderator, and Josep Vicent Boira, commissioner of the Spanish Government for the Mediterranean Corridor, Xavier Flores led the first panel discussion of the day, which focused on the basic infrastructures of the tourist territory. Flores highlighted the role of infrastructure for tourism, “vital for the travel experience”, he pointed out. “They are the first part of the experience, we arrive and leave through the infrastructures”, he said. The general secretary of Mitma’s Infrastructure assured that the AVE station at Girona airport must be an important infrastructure for the demarcation. According to forecasts, the project should be done over the next two years to start work in 2026.

For his part, Boira emphasized that “the Mediterranean corridor is also a tourist corridor» and hence its importance for mobility. During his speech he pointed out that the majority of tourists arrive by road and airports, in comparison, by train the arrival data is much lower.

Audience attending the event at the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation auditorium in Cap Roig Jordi Comas Matamala Foundation

Music and cycling

One of the tables of the day focused on music and cycling as tourist appeals in the demarcation. Regarding sports tourism, especially cycle tourism, the journalist and writer Rafael Vallbona explained that “there is a part of the visitors who come to do sports but it is a very effective way to get to know the territory”. Vallbona considers that followed by services that add value to the destination and this needs to be taken care of, such as for example the landscape, the types of road or the gastronomy.

On the other hand, the co-director of the Sónar Festival, Ricard Robles, stated that there is a “need to review a little because there are so many festivals and what role they play. There are many and some are too similar.’ Robles explained that it is necessary to differentiate the objectives of the festivals; as for example if they want to provide added value, simply be a business or if they are intended for local people or the intention is to increase the arrival of tourists.

The day also covered topics such as the influence of the landscape and architecture on the tourist destination or economic prospects. With reference to the future of the economy, Jaume Masana, Business Director of CaixaBank, assured that “the economy is growing, inflation is down and will go down and the interest rate will continue to rise temporarily, but in the long run it will also go down».

The Minister for Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal Jordi Comas Matamala Foundation

At the end of the event, the Minister for Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal, patron of the Jordi Comas Foundation, closed the event, with a speech in which he emphasized that the day showed that “there is a future, and we all have the ethical, moral and political obligation to work for the future, individually, and to build a dream of a collective future for our country».

The councilor shared Jaume Massana’s optimism about the positive trend of economic growth and said that “things must be paid for the price they are worth” and that “the public administrations must help to be able to pay the price that things are worth it, when the private sector is involved and when the purpose of what needs to be paid is justified by the public interest”.