Mer made great Costa Blanca memories for her Meet & Talk Forum/Fam Trip delegates last week
Both GTAssociates guests and other guests have given some lovely feedback for Mer (Mercedes Cid) who ran the combined Forum and Fam for Costa Blanca Tourism.
Mer and the various suppliers have definitely put Costa Blanca on the delegates MICE map. For many attendees, destinations such as Alicante, Calpe & Torrevieja were simply unknown.
Check our Day by Day program posts to see what we all discovered and check our round up for comments on the hotels/venues.
Arrival Day Thursday 19 February
Not strictly correct as some of us, as I did, arrived Wednesday. Meet & Talk Forums is particularly delegate friendly in that you can, within reason, chose your departure airport and best arrival/departure times/dates to suit.
Our welcome included great tourism authorities’ videos, bubbly in the Champ Bar and a fabulous gourmet dinner with great entertainment.
We started at AR Diamante Beach and Convention Hotel (our host hotel during the Forum) with a welcome by Costa Blanca Tourism and great video presentation and then moved onto Sol y Mar hotel. Sol y Mar hosted us for presentations, by Alicante Tourism and Calpe Tourism, followed by a bubbly reception in Sol y Mar’s Champ Bar and a brilliant gourmet dinner in Abiss.
It was not only our waistlines that were stretched!!
We were entertained by three stretchy acts. A welcome by and during dinner enjoyed two vocal performances that would stretch many singer’s vocal cords. In between vocal performances we were treated to an Airshow featuring a very stretchy bendy lady balancing on two posts.
Day 2 Friday 20 February
After a very comfortable night’s sleep in my surprisingly spacious room I enjoyed a good breakfast, but not too much, as I anticipated a lot of fab & generous lunches and dinners.
Friday was the business day of the Forum. Our one to one meetings with suppliers from across Costa Blanca along with suppliers from Costa del Sol, Gibraltar and Galicia with Mer as timekeeper.
If only all coffee breaks were as good as today’s break. It was a late break and there were those who thought that lunch was being served on the terrace!!! And what a bonus blue skies and 17 degrees. Sounds like heaven post grey and cold UK but these were lower than normal temperatures.
Time to chill a little and then a walking tour of Calpe’s old town plus insight into the town’s history. Amazing that back in the 70’s Calpe was a sleepy little fishing town and now boasts an impressive MICE offering along with successful tourism.
Much of Calpe’s history mirrors many Mediterranean shores – invasion and conquest, re-conquest, pirates and more. The ebb & flow of Christians versus Moors is celebrated in staged battles/ Myths, legends and great stories abound.
The legacy for MICE is fortunate – a mix of cultures and great cuisine.
Post our walk; back to base to change for dinner at Hotel SH Ifach.
We thought our Abassi gourmet dinner would be had to match but SH provided an equally wonderful meal and an amazing flamenco dance show.
Day 3 Saturday 21 February
A life on the ocean wave – well not quite but post breakfast we visited Real Club Nautico Calpe. Sailing for the brave, a rib boat for those who wanted to watch and the Club bar for those without any sea legs.
As it turned out the rib boat was the bravest option – it least it seemed so to those of us who opted to sail. The sailors amongst us, powered by the wind, felt as though we were on a gentle roller coaster whereas the rib boat sped across the bay smashing into the waves.
Sadly we returned early as the wind dropped.
Our mid-morning break was wine and cheese courtesy of the most passionate winery owner I have met.
In a few decades this winery has gone from a father’s hobby growing and producing for family and friends to the son’s passion for producing wines able to wine awards, supporting local industries and being oh so green and inventive on pest control.
After some quick purchases, shame about luggage space and weight, we were off to see Melia Villaitana.
An impressive village styled resort hotel with great conference space and two great golf courses. Villiatana offers both 4* and 5* accommodation set in countryside with great views and twenty minutes from the coast.
And, onto lunch. We went from village resort to street village hotel. A row of cliff top individual houses with some very different meeting spaces and amazing food. The problem with finger food as good as this is that communication between ones stomach and fingers seems to break down. Would we ever eat dinner!
Post the Pueblo we were on the Fam part of our stay and onto Melia Alicante.
Alicante has amazing views over the sea and beach as well as Alicante’s hilltop perched castle. If you are looking for meetings rooms with a view then this Melia is a great place to start.
Time for a quick walk around Alicante – enough time to appreciate that parts of Alicante really buzz at night and then onto check in at La Finca Golf and Spa Torrevieja. Funky, modern, comfortable with a lovely junior suite complete with fab bathroom and views.
We had time for a few bubbles and a short chill before dinner.
Aperitifs, canapes and entertainment in the glass room. This is La Finca’s principal meeting space and still only a few months old. My fingers and stomach were still not communicating as the canapes maintained the early standard Abassi set.
And, our entertainment was an amazing display of flexibility and strength fit for a gymnast’s gold medal – an Airshow in a large suspended hoop.
Then to the al a carte dining room for four more excellent courses. Few of us managed to finish the so tasty veal entrecote.
A final drink and supposedly off to bed.
However, I had an unusual added entertainment from the room next to mine.
The sounds of guitar and voice came from outside. On the balcony next to mine was, as I found out, a singer/songwriter/musician busy composing/trying out his ideas. My applause earned me a long conversation and a few glasses of rum!! Appears that the artiste was filming a video at La Finca!!
Day 4 – Sunday 22 February, Last Day – what a shame.
After drinking rum, while listening to the creation of some great music, and only fours’ hours sleep I deserved a hangover.
Must have been a special rum or the music – I woke feeling I could bounce off the walls. Must have been a premonition for my afternoon with a gym ball.
Post breakfast we were off for a tour of Torrevieja. We took in an interesting 4 star with a great meeting space, a brilliant concert/congress hall (real hi tech), a view of a pink salt lake and lunch on board a wooden boat – well in board lunch.
Our venue for lunch appeared to be all wood – floors and walls – as if we were on an old sailing vessel. This was our first taste of the food that locals are more likely to eat – muscles, squid, paella, fish and more.
Then back for a show round of La Finca. Thanks Heikki for an unusual show round. A team building quiz based on La Finca with added challenges.
One challenge was to stand on a massive gym ball and walk it up the path while supported (cushioned if need be) by ones team mates.
Fortunately my volunteering to walk the ball was not a disaster – in fact it was fun once I worked out how not to fall off. Lucky for me my team mates were too busy picking me up after two falls so no photos of me falling; just those of me celebrating.
My return flights meant I had to leave and miss the final hotel visits and dinner.
Overview
Delegates came from Scandinavia, Germany and France as well as the UK.
Not one of us had realised just how good Costa Blanca could be for MICE. Not only good but very competitive. Madrid is lower cost than Barcelona and Costa Blanca is a lot more attractive on rates than Madrid.
And of course flights into Alicante have improved and hopefully Valencia does as well.
Each of Alicante, Calpe, Valencia and Benidorm offer some great MICE conference and incentive hotels and the smaller towns like Altea have smaller hotels that work for small meetings and Incentives.
AR Diamante Calpe and Melia Villaitana are great options for pharma hotels – able to host over 1,000 delegates and with a large number of rooms. There are many hotels close to AR Diamante should you be looking for 1,000 rooms.
Options for team building and incentive activities cover everything you expect, and more, in an area that has amazing sandy coastlines, warm winter seas and mountains over 4,000 feet.
While many activities like diving, sailing, golf, mountaineering, cycling are sport the region also hosts professional winter team training in other sports such as football for those who want to enjoy sunshine and warm winters – 20 degrees is quite normal!
While I wrote this it was over 20 degrees In Calpe (and sunny).
Almost finally – thanks to all those who contributed as suppliers, hotels, venues and activities, especially Mercedes for putting it together and Costa Blanca Tourism Authority for requesting a Meet & Talk Forum and an especial thanks to Laura at AR Diamante and Olga at La Finca for unexpected service.
While it is not unusual for a hotel to sponsor Forums and’ Laura waived payment of our personal spend. While our bar bills were small I have never had my personal spending waived before.
And Olga made sure I could have my morning tea, like a true Brit, by lending me her personal kettle.
And finally if your budget is not generous, have large numbers and want winter warmth without a long flight contact GTAssociates for a proposal from Costa Blanca.
This tart, from the beautiful Swiss region of Engadine, is made from shortcrust pastry and a filling of chopped walnuts, cream and honey. Perfect for that mid-afternoon pick-me-up, this dessert is sweet, indulgent and a genuine taste of Switzerland!
