Hotel overnight stays in Catalonia up 2.5% in July on last year
July’s tally rose above 8 million for the first time
leisure
Politicians take holidays too?
Catalan politicians are taking a break from the country’s turbulence while they can
Europe’s unique ‘Ferrari Land’ kicks off at Port Aventura
Ferrari Land, Europe's first theme park in Europe entirely dedicated to the Ferrari, will open its doors this Friday. Located next to Port Aventura, in Vila-Seca, a town in the southern Catalan region of Tarragona, Ferrari Land represents a €100 million investment, occupies 70,000 m2, and includes 11 rides and attractions. The most popular is the ‘Red Force’, Europe’s largest and fastest roller-coaster. In fact, it is a vertical accelerator which goes from 0 to 180 km/h in five seconds, simulating the acceleration of a Formula 1 race car. More than 250 media from all over the world attended the inauguration this Thursday, including Ferrari’s founder son, Pietro Ferrari. With this new attraction, Port Aventura World, which includes Port Aventura and the adjacent Caribbean World water park, is set to boost the Vila-Seca area and turn Port Aventura World into a leading family destination.
New ‘Ferrari Land’ amusement park to open in Catalonia by 2016
Catalonia’s PortAventura and Ferrari have reached an agreement to build a new area dedicated to the illustrious sports cars, expanding the current amusement park. Thanks to an over €100 million investment, ‘Ferrari Land’ will open in 2016 with 75,000 m2 at its disposal. Visitors will discover several attractions designed for fans of the Italian brand, including a vertical accelerator announced as the highest and fastest in Europe. ‘Ferrari Land’ will also host the first Ferrari themed hotel, which will offer 5-star accommodation in 250 rooms. The Italian company had already opened a dedicated theme park in Abu Dhabi named ‘Ferrari World’, which was met with much success among fans of the prancing horse. The new amusement facilities will be built next to 'BCN World', a $6 billion resort that will open next to PortAventura, with hotels, conference centres, casinos, theatres and golf courses.
American KKR investment fund buys 49.9% of PortAventura
Italian Investindustrial has sold 49.9 % of its stake in PortAventura amusement park to KKR, a US investment fund. With this operation Investindustrial has incorporated a long-term partner in the project, while making sure to be the majority shareholder with 50.1 %. The transaction will be effective in January 2014 and is only awaiting regulatory approvals. In the long-term strategy, PortAventura is looking for other agreements to broaden the range of leisure activities and develop further at international level. A few weeks ago it was made public that Investindustrial would join the BCN World project by building and managing 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, it has been announced that the Cirque du Soleil would give daily shows in PortAventura from the summer of 2014.
'Barcelona Opportunity Week' starts with the aim of stimulating local citizens to be “tourists in their own city”
From January 27th to February 5th, those who live in the Catalan capital will enjoy discounts on cultural products, markets, restaurants and hotels throughout the city. The initiative aims at energising the economy at the end of January and stimulating Barcelona citizens to discover their own city.