The project 'Halal Market: resilience of markets in the face of new tourism trends', led by the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, is off to a strong start, as shown by the results of its first public event: the virtual launch meeting that took place on 30 September 2020 and in which both institutions and key agents, the media, companies and the general public showed their support for this initiative. In fact, the video of this meeting already has more than 1,100 views on the Tres Culturas facebook channel.
The day began with a working meeting behind closed doors and online among the partners of this project: Mercacórdoba (Mercados Centrales de Abastecimiento de Córdoba), CIMBAL (Comunidade Intermunicipal do Baixo Alentejo), NERBE/AEBAL (Associação Empresarial do Baixo Alentejo e Litoral) and Fundación Tres Culturas, which have been working intensively since last January on different lines of action, under the guidelines defined by the INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal cooperation programme (POCTEP 2014-2020), in which 'Halal Market' is framed. The partners shared the proposals that each one is developing, in order to coordinate the agendas of activities for the last quarter of 2020.
This was followed by a virtual press conference with the participation of the director of the Three Cultures Foundation, José Manuel Cervera; the managing director of the Seville Tourism Consortium, Beatriz Arilla; Jorge Paulo Colaço Rosa, president of CIMBAL; Jesús Reina, managing director of Mercacórdoba; Filipe Pombeiro, president of NERBE/AEBAL; and María de Lurdes Vale, coordinator of the Tourism team of the Portuguese Embassy in Spain. Five journalists also attended, two of them Portuguese (from 'Diario do Alentejo' and 'Correo do Alentejo'), two Spanish (from 'Agenda de la empresa' and 'Atalayar') and a correspondent of several Moroccan media in Andalusia (such as 'Le matin'), who showed great interest in the project and raised several questions to the participants.
The inaugural conference was given by Javier Albarracín, director of Barcelona Halal Services, with the talk 'Halal consumption: a fast-growing global proximity segment', who stressed that this cross-border project is "absolutely relevant and innovative". "The Muslim consumer represents an increasingly relevant niche in terms of absolute volume figures, purchasing power and proximity," he argued.
During his speech, he used numerous figures and data that showed the great demographic growth of the Muslim population and, above all, the structural change in this type of population, with a new generation of young people, digital natives, highly educated and sophisticated, tourism lovers and, most importantly, "very loyal to brands, destinations and companies that have made an effort to fully adapt to their consumption patterns".
After his words, a general presentation of the project was given by the head of Tres Culturas, Germinal Gil, followed by the interventions of the representatives of the partners: Gonzalo Pérez Alcalá for Mercacórdoba; Fernando Romba on behalf of CIMBAL and João Coelho for NERBE/AEBAL.
The day was brought to a close with sectoral presentations by key agents: María Lara, Director of Promotion, Market Development and Foreign Network of the Andalusian Agency for Foreign Promotion (EXTENDA); Vítor Fernández Silva, President of the Agência Regional de Promoção Turística do Alentejo; Isabel Romero Arias, Director General of the Halal Institute; Pedro Beato, technician of the Entidade Regional de Turismo do Alentejo; Miguel Guardiola, Director of International Relations of the Andalusian Confederation of Entrepreneurs (CEA); and Francisco Zambujinho, President of the Associação Heranças do Alentejo.
More on 'Halal Market
This project, which is being developed thanks to the INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal cooperation programme (POCTEP 2014-2020), aims to generate competitive advantages for the products and services of different companies in Andalusia, Algarve and Alentejo, by adapting them to the criteria defined as 'Muslim friendly', favouring the attractiveness of our hospitality offerings and increasing exports.
Among the actions envisaged until the end of the project (in April 2022), business forums, tourist micro-routes throughout the programme's territory of action, and the development of a platform to promote the sale of on-line products and the development of business services stand out. halalamong other activities.
The aim of these proposals is to achieve three specific objectives: the adaptation of the offer in the strategic sectors of tourism, commerce, crafts, services and the hotel and catering trade to the market. halalThe EU's efforts to promote the adaptation of products and services with export potential and which generate new jobs; and the strengthening of business cooperation mechanisms and public entities aimed at SMEs and micro-SMEs as a means of sustainable economic promotion.
Special emphasis will also be placed on reaching a new demand sector in the market. halalThe Muslim tourists are the main focus of the millennials (TMMs) which, in terms of the annual Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index, are a driving force in the industry. halal.
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