Source: Iberia

  • Both will back major advertising and promotional campaigns focusing on the attractions of the Spanish capital and the advantages of the plan.
  • “Stopover Hola Madrid” is aimed at long-haul Iberia passengers and offers major hotel, transport, shopping, restaurant, and entertainment discounts on Madrid stopovers of up to six nights.
  • The offer, which will continue into 2022, will be the subject of a digital marketing campaign in several Latin American countries.

The Madrid City Council and Iberia are joining forces to relaunch an initiative to prolong Madrid stopovers under highly advantageous conditions by long-haul Iberia passengers. The “Stopover Hola Madrid” scheme was first launched at the start of 2020, but quickly fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic. Travellers who avail themselves of the scheme can obtain major discounts during stopovers of one to six nights in the Spanish capital, where Iberia has its hub.

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida and Iberia Executive Chairman, along with the city’s Tourist Board Chief Almudena Maíllo, and the AENA Airport Authority official Javier Marín, gave details of the scheme today at a press conference in Madrid’s Barajas Airport, the gateway to and from other European destinations for Iberia’s overseas passengers on flights originating in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Prolonging the Madrid Stopover and Increasing Spending

The Madrid Council expects the initiative to strengthen the city’s position as a first-rate tourist destination while increasing both the length of stopovers and spending by international travellers. It expects that by June, 2022, as many as 50,000 people will take advantage of the scheme, which offers discounts on most expenses during stopovers of one to six nights, the average being estimated at 2.5 nights.

“This public-private cooperation initiative and the alliance with a major  supplier of tourists to Madrid like Iberia are in keeping with our new Strategic Tourism Plan,” said Mayor Martínez-Almeida. He said the scheme would  encourage tourism and tourist spending in the short term, while strengthening the Spanish capital’s position as a major tourist destination.

Martínez-Almeida underlined the need for such initiatives to help reactivate tourism and the economic activity it generates in Madrid, and to rebuild confidence in the safety of the city, which boasts a high Covid-19 vaccination rate.

According to AENA, the agency responsible for Spanish airports and air traffic control, traffic is now recovering strongly after the worst of the pandemic. Aircraft movements are now approaching 60% of their pre-pandemic levels, while air cargo volume is outstripping 2019 levels, and the number of passengers is rising month by month, from 971,453 in March to 1,702,076 in May.

Promoting the Scheme

The “Stopover Hola Madrid” plan is being promoted via a major digital media campaign in selected Latin American countries –Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Costa Rica– along with a newsletter sent to key banks in those countries..

“Hola Madrid” on Iberia Aircraft

The promotion also calls for the renaming of an Iberia plane as “Hola Madrid”, and the addition of vinyl decals depicting the capital city on other long-haul aircraft.

Videos promoting tourism in Madrid will be shown aboard long-haul Iberia flights before passenger-selected films, and 30-second commercials will appear on screens before landing at Madrid Barajas airport.  Madrid will also feature in Iberia’s in-flight magazine Ronda Iberia, now in digital format and distributed by email to passengers before their flights. Print versions will be sent to the top tanks of Iberia Plus loyalty programme members.

Madrid will also be featured on Iberia’s websites in Latin American countries and the airline’s social media platforms. Also planned are press junkets and to Madrid and other initiatives with general news media and the specialised travel press, plus travel agencies.

Partners offering discounts in the “Stopover Hola Madrid” scheme include the Meliá hotel chain, the reservations company Booking, the luxury coach line ALSA, the car rental firm AVIS), the El Corte Inglés department store chain, the Spanish start-up Holafly offering temporary SIM cards to tourists, plus numerous Madrid restaurants, leisure and recreational centres, museums such as the Prado, the Thyssen- Bornemisza, and the Royal Palace, along with such complementary service suppliers as Viator, Biduzz, and Bob.

For more information, visit: https://www.iberia.com/es/es/stopover-in-madrid/