Getting Tourists here - How and Why?

Summary:

Which ever model we want to follow, we need to consider what we want to offer them and how they are going to get here...

Getting Tourists here - How and Why?

prosaic 14 Jun 2008 22:58

Those of us who own cars mostly feel that being just over an hour from two airports is reasonably convenient - but for a tourist, it creates an obligation to hire a vehicle to get here which they will then drive whilst here - which puts pressure on Jávea to provide the infrastructure to cope with this Summer influx of cars and car parking - and we have all seen what happens to Jávea when it tries to improve parking! Not least it narrows all the streets and lifts all the kerbs.

If we are to promote Jávea as a tourist destination, deciding how we want them to get here will go a long way towards deciding what type of tourist we want and what type of Jávea they are going to want to come and see.

Example:- If we want more pedestrians and less cars in the centre of town - which seems to be the way we are heading now (I am actually not being sarcastic - just for once) then maybe we should be encouraging tourists who come by bus, coach, train and boat. The buses are currently very cheap - but it is a lengthy journey with stops and changes at the depot in Alicante to get to and from the Airport, there. Coaches require either a "coach tour" approach to tourists - which leans towards Benidorm… or we could take a leaf out of the Scunthorpe model and encourage/subsidise Airport transfer coaches that are dedicated to Jávea and stop nowhere else… I for one would use this sort of service and I know a lot of others who would too- if there is one already tell me where and when! We could also go for an Oxford "Park and Ride" approach for the driving tourist - at least this won't put all our car hire companies out of business.

We have often discussed the possibility of encouraging eco tourists - but it is a bit of a drawback if we cannot offer an eco-friendly means of getting here from their arrival point in Spain - so may be we should be looking to copy the Turkish phenomenom of bringing back the old fashioned 60 passenger sailing ships to ferry up and down the coast - pretty stylish way to get to your holiday destination! And good for boat trips!

Trains are good as far as Gata, apart from the stop in Altea - but then it is a long walk to here - so perhaps coaches meeting Gata/Altea "airport" trains would work…

The point I am wandering around is that Jávea is rapidly becoming a bottleneck. It is a destination, not a place you go through, to go anywhere else - so whilst its position is its charm - it is Jávea's accessibility that will dictate what model we can follow - are we being pushed into only being accessible to the wealthy or maybe we are aiming at the determined back packer - or are we developing a larger model for a wider audience?

Re: Getting Tourists here - How and Why?

chrisbj 16 Jun 2008 13:20

Urban mobility (or lack of it) has been a big talking point in Agenda21 and we had some formal sessions on this in 2007, though the approach was not from the point of view of getting tourists here, but how we deal with getting about in general.

One suggestion was a network of microbuses and another an intermodal station (where passengers switch from long distance bus to taxi/mini-bus). This would be located near Mercadona and the Thursday market. A piece of land is available.

More cycle tracks were also suggested, but the whole thing became bogged down. I think mainly because Jávea has three urban centres, so we can't look at other places and say "Well, that plan works fine there, let's try something similar here!"

So when it came to the Local Action Plan (the document we are currently working on) , everything was boiled down to the need to carry out a proper study and develop a plan based on the findings. As I understand it, the consultant IDOM which is drawing up the General Town Plan, has been asked to look in to this issue.

As regards tourists, many of them stay in rented villas in urbanisations, and the only way they could feasibly get about would be by using a car, and it makes sense for them to hire a car at the airport.

There is no direct bus link from El Altet Airport. UBESA buses go from the Airport to Benidorm. Trains go from Denia / La Jara / Gata to Alicante City . These used to be very slow, but I think things are being upgraded.

The main problem Jávea has, is that we are out on the peninsular, and off the main routes. Boats? - the Turkish gulets are fine for a leisurely cruise, and stop in tiny picturesque bays. We sinply don't have the variety of coastline they have in the Aegean (I sailed there last year!)

Chris