The city s hotel capacity has increased during the last few years, specially in four star hotels.

Transcription

1 THE CITY OF ALICANTE. FACTS AND FIGURES. YEAR 2014 Alicante, capital of the Costa Blanca, is located on the east coast of Spain. The city offers tourist-related products involved with cultural, shopping, golf, nautical, gastronomic and leisure sectors, as well as business and incentives. The airport is 8 miles from of the city and connects to most major European destinations. HOTEL OFFER IN ALICANTE 5 STAR HOTELS 1 hotel. Total number of rooms: 81 4 STAR HOTELS 10 hotels. Total number of rooms: STAR HOTELS 15 hotels. Total number of rooms: 1239 The city s hotel capacity has increased during the last few years, specially in four star hotels. Nowadays, Alicante offers a total of 35 hotels and a total of beds at the visitors disposal. The greatest offer and variety is in 4 star hotels with rooms, dates notably superior to 3 stars hotels (1.239 rooms). Apart from the city s hotel accommodation, in Alicante there is a great capacity in tourist apartments. The visitor can today choose accommodation in tourist apartments in different categories and characteristics, distributed around the main tourist points of interest. NEW MEETING FACILITIES IN ALICANTE ALICANTE S NEW AUDITORIUM The meetings, conferences and incentives tourism industry now has the ideal destination for events in Alicante province: excellent connections via land, sea and air with leading destinations in Spain and Europe, an exceptional climate, a wide range of top quality hotels and an excellent infrastructure in constant growth. All this, together with the very best complementary provision, in terms of leisure,

2 sailing, sport and the most exquisite traditional and cutting-edge cuisine, make ADDA and Alicante the perfect choice for meetings and events. Alicante's Auditorium - ADDA - is in the centre of the capital city, an emblematic building spread over 28,000 square metres, an example of modern architecture and world class facilities. A multi-purpose auditorium designed to host both concerts and events such as conferences, lectures, receptions, presentations and any kind of professional meeting. It can hold a total of over 5,000 people across all its areas. Alicante Provincial Council Auditorium - ADDA - has the facilities for hosting all kinds of professional meetings. It has: - A large symphony concert hall seating Chamber concert room seating Multi-purpose hall with 420 square metres - Conference room seating Circular symposium hall seating Exhibition hall holding 482 square metres - Two meeting rooms each with seating for 40 people Alicante Provincial Council Auditorium - ADDA - provides all the services needed for holding meetings, lectures and conferences, including the most up to date audiovisual equipment, simultaneous translation booths and catering facilities. Other new interesting places for smaller meetings in the city include LAS CIGARRERAS OLD TOBACCO FACTORY, the new builiding of the Chamber of Commerce or El Claustro (The Cloister), a modern space next to the Cathedral. CULTURE AND LEISURE TIME Alicante has a varied and rich cultural and leisure offer that includes different possibilities such as the Archaeological Museum MARQ, declared The Best European Museum in 2004, Santa Bárbara Castle, the MUBAG Fine Arts Museum, the Nativity Scene Museum, the Hogueras Museum, the Bullfighting Museum The city of Alicante has recently improved its offer with the opening of three new museums:

3 - Contemporary Art Museum (MACA), housed in the city's oldest surviving civil building. In the baroque style, it dates back to 1685 and is located next to the Santa María basilica. It houses an important collection of 20th century art mostly comprised of works donated by Eusebio Sempere, and has become of the most important Contemporary Art Museums in Spain. Different types of events such as concerts and exhibitions also take place in this museum. - The Museum of the city in the Castle of Santa Barbara (MUSA). Housed in the castle itself, it explains the history of the city of Alicante and their inhabitants. - The Volvo Ocean Race museum. It is a modern exhibition venue where visitors can enjoy a close-up look at the world of the sea, learning about the most intrepid sailors and experiencing the hidden delights of the Ocean. Take a trip through the history of the regatta and the marine world in this state-of-the-art museum. In fact, this is the only museum in the world specialising in the most demanding challenge to sailors of our time. The regatta considered the "Everest of Sailing". For those who prefer to enjoy the city breathing fresh air, Alicante has many parks and promenades such as the Ereta Park, located on the side of Mount Benacantil, or the famous Explanada de España, the Marina and the promenades surrounding our beaches. Alicante is also known for its Fiestas. You will probably coincide with any fiesta during your stay in Alicante. The most famous fiestas are the Hogueras de San Juan, which are celebrated from the 20th to the 24th of June. This fiesta involves huge multicoloured sculptures made of cardboard that are burnt the night of the 24th of June. After the burning, a fireworks contest begins in Postiguet beach ending the night of the 29th of June. Moors and Christians celebrations are another remarkable fiesta, celebrated during different months of the year in different areas of the city. Specially bright and colourful is the general parade of the 6th of December. Carnival and Holy Week are also famous fiestas in Alicante. There are other celebrations, which may be less known but still very interesting, such as the May s

4 Crosses in Santa Cruz quarter or the Pilgrimage to the Monastery of la Santa Faz (the Holy Face). GOLF COURSES IN ALICANTE Alicante has two 18-hole golf courses in the surroundings of the city, both of them very well connected with the city centre and hotels. One of them is located in San Juan Beach and the other one is very close to the El Altet International Airport. Three other 18-hole golf courses near Alicante complete an interesting circuit for golf lovers. NAUTICAL ACTIVITIES IN ALICANTE The Mediterranean weather of the Costa Blanca allows the practice of nautical sports during all the year such as boat and Jet Ski rental, sailing, rowing, diving All these services can be hired directly. Thanks to its modern infrastructures and its excellent nautical conditions, and the experience gained after the organization of the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in October 2008, Alicante was confirmed to host the start of the following three editions of this sailing competition: the edition that started in November in 2011, and the edition starting in the years 2014 and The city has also been the scene of the regatta Grandes Veleros (formerly known as Cutty Sark) in 2002 and 2007 and the Audi Med Cup in 2007, 2008 and Alicante was also one of the venues of the EUROBASKET, the European Basketball Championships in ISLAND OF TABARCA Tabarca is the only inhabited island in the Comunidad Valenciana Region, and is located eleven sea miles to the south of Alicante. Regular boats leaving from the ports of Alicante, Santa Pola and Benidorm can take you to the island. The island has a beach with crystalline waters. It also has a great variety of sandy and rocky coves. The typical gastronomy of the island is based on fish. The urban centre of the island is protected by stunning walls and its waters were declared Mediterranean Marine Reserve.

5 SHOPPING IN ALICANTE Alicante is the perfect place for any kind of shopping. The typical products include leather shoes and bags, food products such as turrón, ice cream, dates The most important area for buying these and other products is located around Maisonnave Street and Theatre Street. There are also many shopping centres outside the city centre where you can shop. LEARN SPANISH IN ALICANTE There are many advantages to studying Spanish in Alicante. It is a mediumsize city that enjoys an exceptional Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters, and an average annual temperature of 18ºC. Its international airport, just 12 km from the city centre, offers outstanding communication links with the rest of Europe, with over 90 direct flights to other European cities. It also has a strong university tradition, and every year welcomes more and more foreign students to the city. There is a a large number of professional schools that teach Spanish as a foreign language, offering students a range of different services. TRANSPORT TO ALICANTE The El Altet International Airport is one of the biggest airports in Spain. It has around 20 direct connections with other Spanish cities, around 80 connections with cities in EU countries and 15 outside the European Union. It has connections with 20 different countries. The airport is located 12 kilometres from the city centre between the cities of Alicante and Elche. Among the direct connections with international destinations we find: Berlin, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Sttutgart, Hamburg, Bratislava, Brussels, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Billund, Paris, Amsterdam, Maastricht, Dublin, Cork, Milan, Reykjavik, Oslo, Bergen, Haugesund, Moss, Stavanger, Trondheim,

6 Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Moscow, Stockholm, Geneva, Basel, Zurich and Fez. El Altet International airport has recently undergone major works and has improved and enlarged its facilities, including the opening of a complete new terminal, the construction of new car park spaces, and bays for the parking of coaches. Fast train link Madrid- Alicante (AVE): Starting in June 2013, the city of Alicante will also enjoy a fast train connection from Madrid, linking both cities in around 2,5 hours. DISTANCE FROM MAIN CITIES Alicante - Madrid: 422 km. Alicante - Barcelona: 515 km. Alicante - Bilbao: 817 km Alicante - Sevilla: 609 km. Alicante - Valencia: 166 km For more information, please visit