Provincial Council and Basque Government present the special investment programme to revitalise tourism in Ayala

• It has a budget of one million euros to develop 8 initiatives
•  The actions envisaged include improving the tourist services and infrastructures of the Quejana Monumental Site, promoting the Txakoli Route and creating a Network of Museums

The Provincial Council of Alava and the Basque Government have today presented a special one million euro investment programme with the aim of revitalising tourism in Cuadrilla de Ayala and thus contributing to the generation of employment and wealth in the region. This programme is part of the Immediate Action Plan for the Aiaraldea Region approved by the Basque Government with a budget of 24 million euros.

This investment programme will make it possible for 8 initiatives to be developed, including improving the tourist services and infrastructures of the Quejana Monumental Complex, promoting the Txakoli Route, creating a Network of Museums and setting up tourist routes with local gastronomy and the tower-houses of Ayala as the protagonists. They also include the organisation of unique events and the creation of a tourist brand.

The presentation ceremony took place at midday this afternoon in the Casino of the Lamuza Park in Llodio before local institutions and tourism agents from Cuadrilla de Ayala and included speeches by the Deputy General of Alava, Ramiro González; the Basque Government Minister for Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Javier Hurtado; and the Provincial Councillor for Employment Promotion, Trade and Tourism, Cristina González.

The deputy general Ramiro González and the minister Javier Hurtado also signed the collaboration agreement that supports the project.

Ramiro González, after the signing, highlighted the effectiveness of the institutional collaboration. “Ayala —he pointed out— has a very high potential for tourism and needed a comprehensive plan of action to enhance its main tourist resources. Ayala is more than glass, pipes and railways. It is cultural and natural heritage, Sierra Salvada, Ermualde. It is txakolí, cinema and literature; the fact that a woman from Ayala will be present at the Berlinale in the near future is enough to prove it. Ayala is all this and more and it is a commitment of the Provincial Council of Alava and the Basque Government to enhance and promote it.”

The minister Javier Hurtado explained that with these investments “we are supporting the promotion of tourism in the Aiaraldea, with special emphasis on the gastronomy and cultural assets of the counties. This plan, structured in 8 actions, will provide added value to the tourist variety for Araba and for the Basque Country, with resources that contribute to diversification, to deseasonalisation and to lengthening the stay of visitors.”

Hurtado highlighted “the promotion of the txakoli route or the artisan gastronomic route as the Department’s commitment to the enogastronomic offer and the reinforcement of a strategy marked by tourism sustainability. They also serve to highlight the value of our legacy related to gastronomy and our history, and are a powerful element of territorial cohesion, as they show the diversity of plans and the wealth of resources of a territory such as the Basque Country.”

For her part, the deputy Cristina González assured that this investment programme “is going to allow us to enhance and publicise all the tourist resources of Ayala, to organise and plan its present and future development, and to structure a sustainable tourism offer. The ultimate aim is to improve the competitiveness of Ayala as a destination and of the tourist companies in the region, in short, to create wealth and employment for the people of Ayala.”

Eight initiatives

The programme “Development of an integrated offer of tourist services” provides for the implementation of 8 initiatives with a total budget of one million euros:

• Promotion of the tourism sector (100,000 euros). Design and execution of different actions to promote Ayala as a tourist destination (direct advertising, familiarisation trips with travel agencies and the media, events, digital campaigns, etc.).
• Txakoli Route (200,000 euros). Actions to improve the knowledge and marketing of the tourist product, taking into account new technologies, and the organisation of activities and events with the capacity to attract visitors, such as concerts, performances, etc.
• Artisan gastronomic route (150,000 euros). Articulate a tourist offer that highlights the value of cheese and other km.0 products prepared using traditional methods in Ayala (sausages, black pudding, truffles, liqueurs, etc.). This will include dissemination actions and the study of the creation of tourism products.
• Network of Museums (100,000 euros). Structure a network of museums and an integrated museum offer through dissemination tools (social media, virtual tours on the website, video, etc.) and the organisation of events and thematic conferences.
• Tower Houses Route (50,000 euros). Configuration of the Tower-House Route of Ayala based on the numerous historic buildings of this type that stand in the different municipalities of the region: inventory, enhancement and dissemination.
• Monumental Complex of Quejana (330,000 euros). Provide the Quejana Monumental Complex with an offer of visits and complementary activities that develop and consolidate this space as a tourist resource linked to the history of the place.
• Unique events (50,000 euros). Organisation of unique events connected with the main tourist resources of the region.
• Tourist brand (20,000 euros). Design and implementation of a tourism brand that makes the region unique, recognised and recognisable by visitors, following a diagnosis and study of the competition. Includes communication plan.