Sitges Scribe: Sitges, in the World's View

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

Sitges, in the World's View

As I sat wondering what to write about for this months’ post, I thought of some of the things I covered this year—the GSMA Mobile World Congress n Barcelona and its impact on Sitges, I continued my Sitges Tales series where we talked about social media and voluntary ignorance in regard to the workplace, my GSL-Visión Magazine 2017 editorial, our own singer Ramon Mirabet and his rising career; and of course, the referendum in Catalunya and its repercussions, sending visceral shockwaves around Spain, Europe and indeed around the world.

So this month, I decided to keep it simple and light, with holiday cheer to end the year.

The View is a top-rated talk show on Disney’s television network, ABC. It is what American’s call a chatshow featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain discussing the most newsworthy events of the day. Up until this August 2017, it was reported the latest season of the series averaged 2.816 million total viewers per episode.

On a trip to San Francisco, as I read the days’ newspapers and had my cup of coffee, a special holiday episode of the show was on my TV. While reading the headlines, I heard “Sitges” and looked at the television screen to find, as a gift prize or giveaway during one of their lighter segments, one of their viewers (Laila) won a holiday provided by the 5-star Dolce Sitges Hotel.

It truly presents Sitges as a desirable place to visit….

It was a pleasant surprise! The presenters quickly raved about the holiday and how wonderful Sitges is… and continued to report how this hotel offers 263 beautifully designed guest rooms and suites—the finest of accommodations. And by checking the website I found that the Wyndham Hotel group boasts “all the flavours and aromas of Sitges are captured in distinctive restaurants and bars, where culinary masterpieces nourish the appetite, as well as the spirit.”

The promotion by the hotel, probably independent of the local town hall or Ayuntamiento also shows how far-reaching the Sitges brand can be,

in terms of tourism.

Scribe Note: The City’s Tourism Budget has increased in the last two years by 44%, from almost €350,000 in 2016 to half a million euros that will be budgeted by the Department of Tourism next year. Not counting the renovation project of the Can Milà farmhouse, amounting to €440,000 more, it is planned to be converted into a reception centre for visitors and tourist promotion, which will place us at a budget for tourism at almost €1 million.