WTM Virtual Premier Sponsor Andalucia is preparing to “welcome tourists with open arms” once people are able to visit again, and is taking steps to ensure tourists are confident about travelling to the region.

Juan Marín, Vice President and Minister of Tourism of the Regional Government of Andalucia, told WTM Virtual:

“We would like to thank international tour operators for their loyalty and commitment to Andalucia at such a delicate time across the globe,” adding: “It is crucial to recover air connectivity levels, highlighting our capacity to transform and adapt to the new situation.”

He said the popular Spanish region was proud to sponsor WTM Virtual, saying:

“It is an honour for us,” adding WTM virtual is an “essential event”.

The destination used the WTM Virtual platform to reveal its ‘Safe Andalucia’ initiative, which the Minister described as a “safe destination seal of approval, fulfilling a series of protocols, audited to give confidence and security at the destination to our end customers”.

It plans to offer tourists free COVID-19 insurance from 1 January 2021 for a whole year, which will cover medical and surgical expenses, pharmacy bills, medical repatriation and up to 15 days’ extension of stay, if visitors need to quarantine.

The region in is the process of appointing an insurance company to cover all visitors, tourists and non-residents from Europe

The tourist board’s Marketing Director Antonio Marín-Machuca said tourists would need to book accommodation regulated by the regional government such as hotels, apartments, guest houses, pensions and camp sites, in order to benefit from the insurance offer.

“As soon as they get to the hotel they will fill out a form and if they are infected with COVID they are covered.

“There is no age limitation to the coverage and it will be at no cost [to the visitor],” he said.

He added that he hopes “everything will get back to normal by next summer” so visitors can once again enjoy “one of the best destinations in Southern Europe.”