The world's largest ship, Oasis of the Seas, will sail this Monday from Fort Lauderdale (USA) en route to Barcelona, ​​where it will arrive on September 13, as reported by Royal Caribbean in a press release.

In addition to anchoring in the Catalan capital, where it will have its homeport and will be docked on 13, 18 and 23 September, the ship will stop in Malaga (11 and 25 September) and Vigo (27 September and 18 October).

This is the first time a ship of this kind has visited Europe: it is more tan 360 metres long, 65 wide, and can accommodate 6,360 passengers and 2,394 crew members from 80 countries; included among its leisure offers are acrobatic jumps, a zip wire, carousel, surfing simulators, ice skating and rock climbing walls.

The pharmaceutical belonging to the Ferrer-Salat family joins the growing group of laboratories that are turning to veterinary science to improve sales.

Animal health products have become a haven for drug companies. They are not subject to the extremely high safety requirements demanded for human drugs or to the Price cuts and savings plans for public health. This fact has led to both multinational and Spanish pharmaceuticals to commit strongly to this field, and the latest company to join them is the the Catalan company Ferrer.

Barcelona will host Seatrade Med in 2014, the second largest world trade fair in the industry after Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami, in an event that will take place from 16 to 18 September in the Gran Via of Fira, which Malaga also competed for.

Seatrade Med is held every two years, and from  1996 to 2004 it was held in Genoa, reveals La Vanguardia, although since 2006 it has travelled around and has been through Naples, Venice, Cannes and Marseille, so next for year it will go for the first time to a Spanish city, after the efforts of Barcelona City council, ​​Barcelona Tourism and the Catalan Tourist Board.

"Like the event in Miami – the city which holds the leading home port in the world of cruises –  Seatrade Med port revolves around an exhibition space and an intensive programme of talks on the current state of the industry, featuring the latest news and discussing future trends of this activity", pointed out the Godó Group newspaper.

"Celebrating Seatrade Med is a confirmation of our international leadership in cruises," said  yesterday Sixte Cambra. President of the Port Authority. The Catalan capital is the top home base in the Mediterranean and Europe and the fourth in the world. The event "will come at the right time for Barcelona – he added – because we will have our growth plan ready, with the new terminal, E, probably already running." In addition, the days of the fair will coincide with the first operations from Barcelona of Oasis of the Seas, belonging to Royal Caribbean, the largest passenger ship in the world .

Inditex is finishing a deal so that the store Zara currently has at number 16 Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona (corner of Gran Via) will be one of the brand’s largest. The aim is to extend the current establishment, of 2,500 square metres, with approximately 4,000 square metres from the old Teatre Novedades, located on the same block, but in Casp Street, according to industry sources familiar with negotiations. Inditex has avoided comment.

The textile group founded by Amancio Ortega had long been interested in extending the Zara store on Passeig de Gràcia and the option of connecting with the Teatre Novedades space  was one of the options. In 2003, the store had already expanded about 800 metres. With this second extension, the new premises could have an entrance in both Casp Street and Passeig de Gràcia, although the sources consulted do not rule out Zara expanding the space but without fully connecting the two streets, but rather for another operator to keep part of the land with an entrance through Casp Street to give it other uses. Depending on the solution adopted, the future shop could exceed the surface area of the store in Serrano, Madrid, which with 5,000 square metres is currently the largest Zara store in the world.

The extension of the establishment in Passeig de Gràcia is part of the real estate project of the former Novedades, which closed in 2006. The developer Espais and the construction group, Lluís Cases, are responsible for this project. The property corresponds to the Roca i Pi foundation, whose management is entrusted to the parish of Santa Maria de Badalona (which in turn belongs to the archbishopric of Barcelona).

Barcelona is the leading European port and fourth in the world in embarking and disembarking.

All the Spanish ports as a whole have received 3,249,554 cruise passengers, on a total of 1,627 vessels during the first half of 2014. These figures represent an increase of 3.7% over the previous year. Mediterranean ports are the ultimate destination, as 59% of passengers and 1.9 million people called at one of its ports. Especially Barcelona and the Balearic Islands account for 80% of cruise tourism in this area and 47% of the Spanish total. And even the Balearic ports are among the top 20 destinations in the world and are first and sixth in Europe in this type of tourism. As for the mainland-Atlantic and the Cantabrian area, the first half of 2014 has closed with nearly 309,232 passengers. The highlights of this area are the port of Cadiz, A Coruña and Vigo.

Within the European context, according to data provided by the International Association of Cruise Lines (CLIA), the Spanish ports of Barcelona and the Balearic Islands occupy the top positions. Barcelona is the fourth in the world in embarking and disembarking and the Balearic Islands are the fifth and sixteenth in the world.

Source: elvigia.com; 2014-09-03

Posted by flytobarcelona.org

Barcelona Air Route Development Committee
promotes Barcelona Airport intercontinental flights

European flights increased by 2, 2% in June and 1,8% in July compared with the same months in 2013 and were above the high forecast. Preliminary data for August show a 2, 1% increase, in traffic on August 2013.

Top eight European airlines listed in this bulletin recorded €1.3 billion operating profit during the second quarter, a 22% increase on the same period in 2013.

Oil prices dipped down to €78 per barrel in August. EIA forecast Brent crude oil prices to average €81 per barrel over the second half of 2014 down to €80 per barrel in 2015.

Seafood Expo Southern Europe is a trade show dedicated to the seafood industry in the Mediterranean held in Barcelona from 22 to 24 September. Each year more and more vendors and buyers are taking part, this time with more than 3,000 industry professionals from all over the world. It is the meeting point for many industry employers to meet their current suppliers, get to know new products and above all contact other industry professionals.

This fair is organized by the company Diversified Communications specializing in seafood industry events, and is one of the largest in the world. This organization has more tan 200,000 professionals and has positioned Seafood Expo Southern Europe as an event where buyers, suppliers, wholesalers and other professionals can benefit from the contacts created at the fair.

The communications consultancy is consolidating its presence in the Latin American market, where it is already found in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

The opening of an office in Santiago de Chile is part of the internationalization strategy of the Catalan communications consultancy Inforpress ato consolidate its presence in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets. "We are convinced that the communication strategies of large firms will be marked by language rather than by geographic boundaries. We are working more and more on global communication plans for Latin America that require us to have a presence in the major hubs and it is clear that Chile is one of the most important, "said Nuria Vilanova, president of the company.

Among the keys to this strategy in general, and settling in Chile in particular, we find the so-called "bandwagon effect." According to Vilanova, "it is necessary to be there to support our customers in the Iberian Peninsula", although expectations in Chile do not stop there. "Although we have just arrived, large Chilean companies are showing great interest in our services. They value, for example, our network in Latin America and are interested in strategies that are succeeding in other markets."

Therefore, the simultaneous presence in several enclaves makes  access to clients from local markets easy. However, it is necessary to differentiate. Inforpress opts for an integrated model of communication: "We propose a concept of synergistic communication strategies which integrates external communication – with consumers, authorities, media, analysts and investors – with internal communication – with employees. Thus, the results grow exponentially, "said Vilanova.

Even though each country is a market with its own characteristics and particularities, there are common recommendations to all of them, especially in the field of human resources. "In all countries we incorporate local talent, professionals who know their markets well. In Chile we have tried to choose the best. Our intention is always to build rich, diversified, multidisciplinary teams. In fact, Inforpress, overall, has a staff of 205 professionals that includes lawyers, journalists, economists, political scientists and even mathematicians, "said Vilanova.

Source: icex.es; 2014-09-04

Posted by flytobarcelona.org

Barcelona Air Route Development Committee
promotes Barcelona Airport intercontinental flights

The Spanish company Outstock Belts, specialized in manufacturing fashion accessories, is undergoing a process of internationalization as demonstrated by its growth strategy in the international market with the opening of a subsidiary in China.

The company has announced that at the end of the year it will launch a commercial office in the Chinese city of Shanghai, right in the financial centre of China. Outstock Belts also intends to open in Bangladesh and India and has set the goal of closing 2014 with a turnover of 18 million euros, double that obtained in 2013. Outstock Belts has been in the fashion industry for over 30 years: belts, fabrics, appliques, fasteners and accessories are, amongst others, the products offered by this family business.

Amongst the client base of Outstock Belts are renowned brands such as Inditex, Mango, Cortefiel, Promod and Carrefour. The Chinese market is not an unknown market for Outstock Belts. The company, which started manufacturing from Barcelona, decided to move part of its production to local Chinese factories ​​in 2003. The company, which has forty employees in Spain, plans to increase its number of employees in Shanghai. The company obtains 30% of its revenue from international markets.

Source: globalasia.com; 2014-09-05

Posted by flytobarcelona.org

Barcelona Air Route Development Committee
promotes Barcelona Airport intercontinental flights

At the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, they will open nine routes to Berlin, Bucharest, Bratislava, Bremen, Cologne, Eindhoven, Fez, Vilnius and Warsaw; in addition to the increase in frequencies to 13 other destinations. These new services will enable a million new customers to be transported up to five million annually, and maintain 5,000 jobs, since according to the ACI (InternationalAirports Council) report, for every million passengers 1,000 jobs are generated at international airports .

Thus, the low cost airline will operate 338 weekly flights, up 40%, on 40 routes at the Madrid airport.

At Barcelona-El Prat Airport, they will begin to fly to Cologne, as well as increasing their frequencies to nine other destinations, so they will operate 364 weekly flights, up 7%, on 39 routes. The new services will enable 300,000 new users to be transported to reach 5.1 million customers a year, and keep supporting the corresponding 5,100 jobs at El Prat airport.