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Ultramar Event Management and Salou Tourist Board Renew Agreement to Promote Town as MICE Destination

Ultramar Event Management, TUI Spain's MICE division, has renewed the agreement signed last year with the Salou Tourist Board aimed at promoting the town as a MICE destination. With this renovation, Salou will continue to feature as one of the top destinations in Ultramar Event Management's Convention Express portfolio. Last year, Salou hosted 60 congresses as a result of this agreement.

Convention Express is a product of Ultramar Event Management offering clients closer and less popular destinations so as to reduce travelling time and the cost of transport, hotel accommodation and venue rental. Salou fulfils all the requirements to be a Convention Express destination, since it has a fully equipped convention centre and a large number of hotels, as well as being well connected with the airports of Barcelona and Reus and Tarragona’s high-speed train station.

For Salou’s Tourist Board, the renewal of the agreement is a positive move since it will allow the town to give a boost to its strategies for stimulating the local economy, which were addressed in the agreement signed last year, and reinforce its position as a business tourism destination, as well as a holiday resort.

It is important to mention the interest that this agreement generated when it was signed – as well as the possibility of signing agreements with other destinations – among MICE industry suppliers. Hotels, restaurants, conventions centres, leisure centres, staff procurement agencies, etc., regard this agreement as a clear opportunity to motivate companies to hold their events, despite the crisis.

Salou Squid hunt begins

Salou is, of immemorial years, a town whose roots are due to the sea. It has always been and always will be. To keep these seafaring customs each year, for already 35, the fishermen sailing out to sea in search of them crowned champions piece of squid fishing contest.

This edition (XXXV) with the participation of 37 boats led by professional fishermen, amateurs and fans of all ages (30 to 80 years) working from yesterday until Saturday, to get the squid, cuttlefish and largest octopus. However, the thing does not look too easy: even if this season looks as good, Josep Brull (known as' Pepito Cap de Sucre "), skipper of the boat 'Herisau' regrets that" it is very difficult because there are seasons squid very good and some very loose. However, Brull says' good time find says that this year.

Intuition and experience Brull (has participated in every edition of the contest) portend a competition that will have nothing to do with last year, when bad weather undercut the capture of three species of cephalopods. "Last week some 1 kilo squid caught, which shows there," says Brull.

Chupinazo and the sea!

While Brull explained that the name of his boat owes it to the Swiss city where he lived for 10 years and which served as a fisherman and rang the traditional chupinazo that began the first day of competition. The cries of his three boat mates alerted the skipper, who rushed to join them to undertake his umpteenth trip to sea. Time passed and squid, cuttlefish and octopus (rare), impatiently waiting the arrival of the boats.

The first few hours of fishing are the weakest because there is still sunshine and Brull explained that "when the sun goes down, the squid bite more. Still, yesterday began with force: the Magic Grup boat, run by Jacob Fibla (owner of the catering and restaurant company that named the boat) managed to steal a squid (250 grams) and a cuttlefish nothing further out to sea. This good start was glad to Fibla, a young fan who says goes fishing every evening after work when "we keep a good average. In addition, last week we caught 8 squids of 1.5 kilos each.

First results

The boat of more than one crew member yesterday took more points (830) was Argos IV, run by Joan Carbonell, while the boat Salou (last year's winner in the category of a single crew) got 510 points. The largest squid was caught yesterday that the boat did it Lídia 4, whose patron is Anton Ginovart (the specimen weighed 1245 grams). By contrast, smaller squid (80 grams) is what took the boat Andreamar, Esteve Giralt.

Salou puts up the Christmas lights.

After many weeks of doubt and second thoughts, the association of merchants 365, Salou has decided to loosen the rope and light the streets at Christmas with 76 lights. This decision, however, has been taken in spite of the members of the board of the agency, which reluctantly complied 'sentence' end. And is that despite the insistence, the association has raised only (for now, since mid-December still accepting donations) € 1,300 of the 6,000 needed to install the lights. A cost, explained the president of the association of traders, Joan Vicens, the lighting installation company, Commercial 54 SL, agreed to lower due to the situation found in the municipality.


However, Salou enjoy Christmas lights thanks to the contribution of the City Council (20 bridges) and partnership (the rest), which faces spending without sufficient economic support. In this sense, trade councilor of the consistory, Pedro Lavilla, nuance that "there has been an agreement, it must be clear which side is up to each one," and made a call to traders from Salou to be aware of that "it is they who pay the lights. Although Lavilla said that "it is a problem that is not new," also wanted to point out that if the association had been closed in band, "had done something" not to leave Salou 'dark'. For example "some of the money earmarked for trade promotion at this purpose."


Lighting Contest for 2010


To prevent this problem from recurring next year, Vicens raise the organization of a Christmas lights contest: "If done windows and it works, why not do it with the lighting of the streets?". The idea of the president of the association of merchants already well developed in his mind: "the companies would bring their best lights and make a popular vote in associated businesses. Apart from solving the conflict this year, an initiative of this caliber "would make people come to Salou to see the lights and buy in order to vote. The award for best lighting would be in cash, "an amount that would share in prize money and could be the equivalent we spend now to put the lights'.


This contrasts with the solution he offered the councilman of Commerce Council, which proposed that the Association 365 dies allocate a minimum quota of Christmas lights, something that "should be raised with well in advance for what has happened this year does not flies to be repeated. Anyway, there's still a year to set an exit because right now, for 2009, salou can 'breathe' quiet: not run out of lights for the holidays.


Christmas came


Salouense City Hall sources said the lights will be lit during the bridge of the Constitution. Instead, Christmas is underway in PortAventura, who will present the season on Wednesday with the presence of tennis star Feliciano Lopez and the model M ª José Suárez. The holiday activities in the park will start on Sunday 28 and lasts until January 6.