Spain celebrates legacy of Picasso

Daniel Rosado, Director, Spain Tourism Board, and his team invited 70 top travel trade partners and influencers for the official programme celebrating the legacy of Picasso in Dubai. This immersive experience was one in many to be expected over the next year, which officially is the 50th death anniversary of the great artist Pablo Picasso.

Shehara Rizly

The event was held in four parts, of which the first was involving the best Emirati travel influencers with travel trade partners, the Spain tourism Director and Marketing Manager, who were engaged in painting an artwork provided for them to celebrate the legacy of Picasso. Second was the presentations by the key speakers, Tourism Director of Spain Tourism GCC, Daniel Rosado shared about the destination and on the celebration of Picasso. Third was the surprise with a unique entertainment based on costumes, which depicted the artwork of Picasso and final was the delectable dinner, which included some Spanish dishes enjoyed by all the trade partners.

Speaking about the event,
Daniel Rosado, Director, Spain Tourism Board in GCC, said, “Next year 2023, we will be celebrating the legacy of Picasso because it is the commemoration of his 50th death anniversary, so we are celebrating his legacy. These celebrations have been planned by Spain and France, depicting his life, as Picasso was born in Spain but died in France. There will be more than 50 international exhibitions around the world and 16 of them will take place in Spain, so Spain wants to maintain itself as a leader in tourism, cultural and heritage, so we will be showcasing all that it has to offer in culture and heritage and go hand in hand with Picasso. Spain wants to remain the leader in cultural tourism and we have today shown all the things that are happening about Picasso, the exhibitions around the different cities where he lived and painted, so there is a very good showcase of his art around Spain in 2023.”

As Spain was one of the first countries to open, they received a high number of visitors, especially from the GCC. This year was a record year for Spain tourism as they hit the 2019 numbers by GCC and considering worldwide they hit 90 per cent of the 83 million received in 2019, which is a great start and a positive recovery. Spain emerged among the top recovered destinations, as, instead of resting on its laurels, Spain has been proactively working with travel trade to promote their offerings by way of many activities, which included webinars to virtual events and then physical roadshows and gastronomic experiences such as celebrating World Paella Day.

Rosado reiterated about the tourism recovery in Spain and shared some interesting facts as to why Spain should be in the bucket list for all those, especially from this region. From the great cities renowned for its two football clubs, which attract the youngsters and those young at heart in this region with an appetite to enjoy football, to those who want to rest and relax by the many beaches, shop in some of the most prestigious outlets, enjoy daily outings with families, especially with children, Spain has got everything necessary for the traveller.

“Spain has 49 UNESCO world heritage sites; hence, heritage is something that travellers from this region enjoy. Shopping is the next which is much loved by the GCC clients, as alongside international brands the authentic Spanish brands have captured visitors to the destination. Spain is family oriented from idyllic beaches to cultural and heritage sites, great football arenas to Michelin star restaurants, the country has something to offer every single member of the family. However, today’s focus is to showcase the legacy of the great artist, Picasso, as the year 2023 marks 50 years since his death anniversary, hence, Spain has produced a series of celebrations to experience the legacy of Picasso. Spain will be hosting 16 exhibitions worldwide and it will be in the main cities where this Spanish artist lived and was inspired for his artwork, which turnout to be one of the most impressive celebrating Picasso as one of the greatest artists of all times. In terms of Turespaña, we will be launching an international campaign “Spain inspired Picasso: Come and be inspired by Spain” where we will be focusing on promoting tourism in the cultural segment and promote Picasso throughout the year 2023,” he said.

At the end of the day numbers speak volumes, Rosado shared, “Spain has done well so far, summer was great, the figures so far are better than the figures in 2019, so according to the global figures, 90 per cent of the tourists as in 2019, the best year ever has already completed, which means 90 per cent of 83 million, which is a “very good” number. Specifically from the GCC countries we received more tourists so far than 2019, so that means that the numbers are growing and also the expenditure of those tourists in Spain is growing, so we are really happy to see that growth. UAE, Qatar keeps growing more and we are very happy about it. KSA is one of the biggest markets in the region in terms of numbers of the population they have and also their willingness to travel, as they are opening very fast and they are travelling a lot, KSA opened a little late, so the numbers are a little low but they are pretty close and this will pick up as now they are fully opened for outbound travel.”

Irina Sanchis Vives, Deputy Head of Mission, Political and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of Spain in UAE, graced the occasion and shared, “Today, we are having the first introduction to Picasso year, where we commemorate 50 years of Pablo Picasso’s death, one of the most influential artists. It will be an exceptional year because in different Spanish cities more than 10 exhibitions about the figure of Picasso will be held, which includes Malaga, Barcelona and Madrid, it will be a great occasion to travel to Spain to discover and rediscover Picasso masterpieces and also to immerse yourselves the paintings of Picasso, which displays the Spanish traditions, culture and Spanish music, so it will be a great opportunity to travel to Spain. This initiative taken by Tourism Counsellor Daniel Rosado of the Spanish Tourism Board is just the start to many events about the legacy of the artist.”

Namratha Rose, Marketing Manager for Spain Tourism in GCC, shared, “We wanted to make this event a bit different and interactive, hence the art workshop with the Emirati travel influencers and trade partners, so that they get to experience the feeling of art and be a part of it. It was a great turnout, and we are delighted that all the trade
partners enjoyed this eventful evening to commemorate and celebrate the great artists’ legacy. We will continue to have more of such events to showcase all the Spanish offerings to this market.”