Routes of the Legacy of al- Andalus

1. Routes of the Legacy of al-Andalus Anna Dajczak Karolina Dardzińska Romana Delevaux Agnieszka Deska MeritxellBesalduchFonte AnaMarínMaicas

2. Outline • The Legacy of al-AndalusFoundation • Cultural Itineraries and Routes of the Legacy of al-Andalus • Principal impact of CulturalRoutes of al-Andalus • Sources of funding • New marketingactivities and platforms • Co-ordination with heritage labels • Impact of the Routes of al-Andalus on SMEs • Levels of co-operation, partnerships and networking with and between SME’s • Frequency of contacts between partners • Merchandising activities • Planned future activities • Recommendations • Bibliography

3. The Legacy of al-Andalus Foundation • Was created in 1995 by Junta de Andalucía • honorarypresident- King Juan Carlos I • otherparticipants - The Spanish Government, Council of Europe, UNESCO, the AndalusianBusinessmen’sConfederation – patron, 33 countries • the headquaters- the al-Andalus Science Pavilion in the Granada Science Park (Parque de las Ciencias) • presentation and dissemination ofSpanish-Muslim civilisation by means of its art,culture and historical and social relationships with the Arab world, the Mediterranean region and LatinAmerica

4. Cultural Itineraries and Routes of the Legacy of al-Andalus Andalucía por sí, para España y la Humanidad (Andalusia forherself, for Spain and for Humanity) Managed by The Legacy of al-Andalus Foundation from 1997

5. TransnationalCulturalRoutes • the Cultural Itinerary of Almoravids and Almohads • Algeria, Mali, Marocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal • influece of twoAfriciandynisties • the Cultural Itinerary of the Umayyads • Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Israel, Yemen, Spain & Italy etc. • followed by Arab civilisationfrom the Middle East, Mediterranean, NorthAfrica to al.-Andalus • the Cultural Itinerary of the Mudejar and theBaroque • Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Spain, etc. • Muslim influence over the Latin & Caribbean arts

6. The Routes of al-Andalus • Route of the Caliphate, • Route of Washington Irving, • Route of Nasrides, • Route of theAlmoravidsand Almohads, • Route of the Alpujarras, • Route of Ibn al-Khatib, • Route ofal-Idrisi, • Route of al-Mutamid • Route of Münzer • Granada heritage tour

8. Principal impact of CulturalRoutes of al-Andalus • Variousactivities have been initiated: • collaboration agreements with town councils; • setting-up of databases; • signposting; • the estabilishment of informationpoints in eachtown; • publication of tourist materials: brochures, posters, guides; • cataloguing of heritage and touristinfrastructure; • networking with partners and collaborators of the al-AndalusRoutes.

9. Statisticsareonlyavailable for educationalRoutes and the tour groupsmanaged by TUI (one of Spain’s most important tour operators).

10. Sources of funding • The Ministry of Tourism of the GovernmentAndalusia, • The Ministry of Culture of the GovernmentAndalusia, • The AndalusianMinistry of Education, • TURESPAÑA, • The EuropeanCommission, • Privatesponsors: Telefónica, Ferrovial, CajaGranada, CajaSur, Confederación de Empresarios de Andalucía, Fundación Francisco Carvajaland FundaciónLara, • TurismoAndaluz and the PatronatoProvincial de Turismo de Granada, • TUI España SA, • Otros Caminos, a travel agency specialised in cycling and trekking.

11. New marketing activities and platforms Tools for the promotion of the Cultural Itineraries and Routes of al-Andalus Publications (guides, brochures, magazines, etc.), Internet, 2 travel guidebooks: Rutas de El LegadoAndalusí (in Spanish, English, French and German) and Andalucía andalusí (in Spanish).

12. 5 main websites (only in spanish): the institutional website(www.legadoandalusi.es) the website to promote the thematic al-Andalus Science Pavilion (www.alandalusylaciencia.es), the website to promote the Cultural Itineraries and Routes (www.rutas.legadoandalusi.es), the press website (http://prensa.legadoandalusi.es) the bookshop (www.librerialegadoandalusi.es) another websites: The Granada Tourist Board website (www.turgranada.es) The Andalusia Tourist Board website (www.andalucia.org) The TURESPAÑA website (www.spain.info) other programmes: Live Your Legacy Discover the Cities of al-Andalus Get to Know your Province through the Routes of al-Andalus

13. Promotion: advertsput in other media:newspapers, tourism reviews, radio and TV; presentation at tourism fairs in Spain (Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, Malaga, Jaen etc.) and also on the Cultural Heritage Fair in Paris; international exhibitions: Hannover, Nagoya; international agencies such as UNESCO; in countries linked to routes like Colombia, Morocco, Mauritania, Mexico; travelling exhibition on all the European Cultural Routes; more than 60 thematic exhibitions outside of Europe (in Algeria, Japan, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan and Tunisia); professional meetings and publications (more than 70 titles); information points about cultural andhistorical routes for customers of hotels located in Andalusia; the organisation of food conferencesabout al-Andalus gastronomy; photographiccontest “Through the Eyes of a Traveller”.

14. Co-ordination with heritage labels From 1995, the international organisation UNESCO has supported the al-Andalus Routes as one of the Routes of Dialogue programme, although it is nowconsidered a former project. In relation to World Heritage sites, there is a co-operation agreement with thePatronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife (Alhambra Trust) signed in July 2005 toorganise joint cultural activities that, on the one hand, include the staging ofconcerts and the joint organisation of musical projects related to the Spanish-Muslim musical legacy and the Arab world. On the other hand, it includes thedesign and presentation of exhibition topics to fulfil scientific and culturalobjectives of common interest, involving the organisation of internationalconferences and meetings.

15. Impact of the Routes of al-Andalus on SMEs SME geographical location. Some 86% of the analysed SMEs are located in asingle province of Andalusia. Only 14% can be found in more than one provinceof Andalusia. Only one has branches in other Spanish autonomous communities. SME staff. The study shows that the number of staff per SME varies widely. Thenumbers range from one to 40 people. The average is approximately 12employees. SMEs with more workers are hotel facilities. SMEs’ connection with the Routes of al-Andalus. Length of time of collaboration with the al-Andalus Routes. Economic benefits of the collaboration with the Routes of al-Andalus. Impact on business activity. Inclusion in tourist packages. Customers interested in the Routes of al-Andalus. Use of the brand or logo of the Routes of al-Andalus. Providing information about other SMEs related to the Routes of al-Andalus.

16. Levels of co-operation, partnerships and networking with and between SME’s At present there are hundreds of associates, mainly hotels, restaurants, tourism companies andtourist reception centres involved as partners. The two main actions that benefit SMEs are their presence as a collaborating institution on theRoutes of al-Andalus website, with a short description and links to the SME website, as wellas dedicated theme weekends in towns along the Route. Another important action was the creation in 2009 of the card "Friends of the Legacy of al-Andalus Foundation", which is free for those interested.

17. Frequency of contacts between partners SMEs consider that it is important toimprove systems of co-ordination between partners/stakeholders. Half of the SMEs do not provide any information on other SMEs to theircustomers, making it difficult to network. This is probably related to the lack ofknowledge about the different SMEs involved in the Routes. In theothersidewehavean active participationbetweentheGovernment of Andalusia and and the town council of each of the municipalities involved in162 the Routes. They actively participate in the thematic weekends. There are also programmes such as Live you Legacy, Discover the Cities of al-Andalus, and Get to Know your Provincethrough the Routes of al-Andalus.

18. Training programmes and SME involvement Only 15% of the SMEs have trained staff in relationship to the Routes (hotels with larger number of staff).

19. Merchandising activities Merchandising products are very limited. There is a bookshop and an on-line shop. www.librerialegadoandalusi.es

20. Planned future activities Provideanoperationalsupporttodevelopedactivitiesthatpromotenationally and internationallythe historical and cultural dimension and the cultural heritage ofGranada and its former kingdom.

21. Recommendations • create by countries involved in the Routes Intranet/ Internet network • includeto UNESCO Routes of Dialogue programme • Involvment in the creation of Ibero-American CulturalRoutes • collaboration with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) • collaboration with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) • co-ordinate a network with other initiatives associated with al-Andalus heritage in other Spanish territories and with other countries • create a Spanish European Cultural Routes Task Force

22. Recommendations for SMEs • conduct a comprehensive brand analysis of the Routes of al-Andalus, • development of a brand tool kit tailor-made to the needs of SMEs, • diversify the business activities, • creation of a tourist product club, • improve training programmes for SME employees, • translate SMEs website on more languages, • carry out client profile studies.

23. Bibliography • „Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ innovation and competitiveness” www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/Routes/StudyCR_en.pdf • The Routes of El Legado of Andalusi www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/routes/andalus_en.asp • FundacionEl legadoandalusí www.alandalusylaciencia.es