Consignas for suitcases, companies of tourist guides or rent of bicycles are installed in the surroundings of the Soho and Carretería
The city's unstoppable tourist growth no longer goes unnoticed by anyone. That Malaga receives more than 1.3 million tourists a year and that these generate an economic impact that only in the capital exceeds 3,000 million euros have turned the city into an object of desire for entrepreneurs of all kinds who try to do business at the expense of visitors. Beyond hotels, bars and restaurants, in recent months companies specializing in meeting the demands of travelers have multiplied in Malaga. The slogans for suitcases, tourist guides, bicycle rental and international ATMs have skyrocketed in the Centre, especially in the surroundings of Soho and Carretería Street.
The growth of these new businesses has come almost in parallel to the boom in tourist apartments, as many of these stores are designed to provide a complementary service to all those visitors - especially foreigners - who stop for several days in the city. The first to arrive were the premises for renting bicycles and segways - of which there are several around the Cathedral - although over the months businesses have been incorporated to store suitcases before and after entering the apartments, offer guided tours of the city, print boarding tickets and even wash the clothes of travelers.
The new premises offer a complementary service to the tourist apartments
These new services, which until a few years ago did not exist in the capital, are even highlighted by the different associations of merchants for their ability to adapt to new times, generate employment and achieve a significant economic benefit. "Although it is important that the activity is regulated, these businesses make tourists move to new areas and know the rest of the commercial offer of a neighborhood. In the words of Juanibel Vera, president of the Association of Historical Center Merchants, "businesses also have to take advantage of the money tourists spend.
Estrella Toro is one of these businesswomen who have dared to innovate with the opening of Lock & Relax, a striking luggage storage service. He remembers having his light bulb turned on during a train ride and seeing how many tourists are loaded with suitcases. And since there were only slogans at the station and airport, he decided to open a specific business. "It is a sector that was empty and we decided to open in Soho because it is close to the Cercanías, which also has good connections with the airport. That was more than a year and a half ago, and since then have not stopped growing, to the point that they have incorporated other services such as bicycle rental or help finding shops and typical products. "Tourists are very happy because we help them in everything, it is important that we all give a good service to repeat in the city," he summarizes.
The slogans are very successful among foreign customers who come to the capital
Like her, and also in Soho, José Reig has been working for some years now, in charge of Segway Málaga Tour, a company located in Trinidad Grund Street that offers tourist routes around the city. He, in part, was a visionary, as he opened nine years ago with the hope that the Center would stand out as a tourist destination. "At first it cost us a lot, but now we work very well and with a significant growth in both the number of visitors and specialized companies. In his opinion it is essential that these services are offered to tourists "to have a good time with museums and such activities.
In the other part of the Center, in the square of the Theater, Tato Zambrano has also specialized in the attention to tourists. In his company, Bagscare, he offers luggage storage, bicycle rental and even laundry for travelers. Its main clients are those who arrive early in the city and have to wait for the apartment to be handed over and those who leave and have to leave the room long before taking the flight. "We want to provide a complete service: we attend to clients from the moment they arrive until they leave, and we even wash their clothes so that they take them clean," he sums up. Other services that also offer are the printing of boarding passes, an international ATM or a service to load mobile phones. "Customers leave very satisfied and tell us it's a very good idea, as they often find something lost. They are the most touristic businesses in Malaga.
A hundred shops in the Centre will open on Sundays when cruise ships arrive.
The more traditional shops in the Centre also want to ride the wave of tourism in the city. To this end, a total of 118 shops have announced their intention to open their doors every Sunday and holiday that cruise ships arrive in the city. This opening takes place as part of the project 'Malaga Cruise Shops' which has led for six years the area of Tourism of the City of Malaga and aims to fill the city with activity in these days. The forecast of the Port Authority for this year is that 54 cruise ships will dock on Sundays and holidays, with a maximum capacity of 104,437 passengers.
Membership of this network implies that the establishment voluntarily undertakes to open to the public from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. every public holiday on which there are moorings in the city for a year. In exchange, the businesses included in this initiative benefit from a series of municipal actions that facilitate the arrival of these potential clients at their establishments: the shipping companies transmit the information on board and the cruisers receive copies of the brochures and maps edited by the City Council on which they can locate the open establishments before disembarking. In addition, the shops that are part of the 'Málaga Cruise Shops' project have a distinctive sticker to be placed in shop windows and with exterior decorative elements that distinguish them as shops adhered to this initiativee
Crédits https://www.diariosur.es/malaga-capital/auge-turistico-malaga-20190316215043-nt.html