La Junta Directiva se reúne con American Airlines y Air China para fortalecer la posición de Andalucía en mercados internacionales.

The Minister of Tourism and Foreign Affairs of Andalusia, Arturo Bernal, held a series of meetings with airline representatives on the first day of the European Connectivity Fair, which took place on Tuesday in Seville, to showcase opportunities for establishing new routes, with a special focus on long-haul connections.

Bernal assessed the activity of the Andalusian delegation during the meeting, with over a dozen meetings scheduled with international companies and airport operators, exceeding thirty appointments over the three days of the fair, as detailed by the ministry in a statement.

Among the meetings organized on this day, discussions with Vueling, Air China, and American Airlines stood out, airlines that «represent a significant part of our strategic objective; the European internal market, transmitters that make up the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and on the other hand, the China and Asia-Pacific area.»

These meetings to showcase the «capacity» of the destination to organize new routes and the demand they may have from different markets «allow us to strengthen Andalusia’s management position in this new international connectivity context,» he said.

He also recalled that the Andalusian government’s «commitment» to this «key event» in the industry, such as the routes, as well as the one that took place last year with the convention of CAPA sector leaders and the presence of international connectivity events, contributes to positioning the community «very relevantly.»

He referred to the meetings with American Airlines, attended by the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, and Air China, with whom they formally work on new business lines that may not necessarily relate to tourism but also to the importance of Andalusia in economic matters, for its commercial dynamism.

The counselor expressed in this regard that it is «an important line of work for these companies, especially in everything related to issues such as digitization, information technologies, renewable energies, or electric vehicles,» among other activities.

In this sense, he highlighted «the good future expectations of the destination in these matters and recalled that the community» brings together important companies working from Andalusia with Chinese investments, following President Juanma Moreno’s actions in this market.»

In 2024, hotel units in Andalusia welcomed over 355,062 overnight stays from China, representing an 87% increase compared to the previous year.

On the other hand, visitors from the United States in community hotels exceeded 1.7 million in the last year, with a 16% increase compared to 2023.

FUENTE