When we say ‘Benidorm’ there are usually three things that come to your mind: elderly people, drunken Brits and a concrete jungle of skyscrapers. These aspects usually spring to people’s minds who have never been to the destination before. All three are true but it is by far not everything that this Spanish seaside destination beholds. By showcasing the ‘other side’ of Benidorm, the city hopes is influencing the destination image.

OBJECTIVE

Visit Benidorm – the tourism board of the destination – has appointed us to the change the ‘you either love it or hate it’  destination image towards a more diverse sun destination. Clearly it has something going for it has as it is visited by over 4 million tourists each year. The best way to achieve this objective is to show reality and stimulate authentic stories.

STRATEGY

Generating authentic stories to the right target audience is the main strategy in this case. Therefore we have worked with a large group of (online) media to influence the destination image. In 2016 we have organized several media visits, each with a different angle and a matching target audience to highlight the diversity of the beachside resort.

Foodies

The first group was foodies. In line with the above-mentioned, the culinary scene in Benidorm does not have the image of being interesting. Cheap tourist restaurants and Dutch or British snack bars dominate the image. With this media tour eight Dutch and Belgian media discovered the culinary side of Benidorm and tasted the local food scene. From traditional Spanish tapas and paella to modern European cooking in high class establishments.

Yum! Lunch at sea ???????? #benidormtasty

Een bericht gedeeld door Marlous – lastdaysofspring.com (@lastdaysofspringblog) op 12 Jun 2016 om 6:50 PDT

Millennials Benidorm being a diverse destination and has something to offer for any tourist – even the younger generation, the so-called ‘Millennials’ – has been the core focus of the second press trip. Two Dutch and two Belgian online influencers flew to Benidorm to discover the sporty and trendy side of town and the diverse activities that are offered including several water sports activities. These influencers each have a large following on Instagram, which was the main criteria for this press trip as Instagram has grown to be the #1 social media network for photo sharing.

Let’s go to the beach each, let’s go get away.. ???? #SummerInSpain #VisitBenidorm Een bericht gedeeld door Matthias Geerts (@matthiasgeerts) op 25 Aug 2016 om 11:46 PDT

Active travel

The third press trip we organized for Visit Benidorm in 2016 was an individual press trip for a journalist that discovered the relatively unknown hinterland of Benidorm for an article on cycling through the mountains. For a consumer cycling magazine the sporty journalist toured the off-road tracks and combined active travel with relaxing on the beach. Which resulted in a five page article on cycling in and around Benidorm, again a positive perspective on the city.

Health Tourism

The fourth press trip of 2016 had the focus on Health & Wellness tourism. Key health and wellness media titles of the Benelux market were invited. During this trip five journalists visited not only the sunny side of the city but also the Top quality hospitals and private clinics. There are excellent facilities for all kinds of treatments which are often covered by the Dutch and Belgian Health insurance companies. In depth one to one talks with Medical doctors why Benidorm is such a healthy destination and the quality of medical care was part of the press programme.