According to all the experts and indicators, the Spanish language offers the greatest potential for growth, compared to others, in the 21st Century. Currently, this, the language of Cervantes, is spoken by nearly 500 million people around the world and according to forecasts, the figure will have grown to 600 million by the year 2050. This is thanks, in part, to the activities of the Instituto Cervantes since 1991 and those of other national, regional, local and academic institutions, including the international promotion of the Spanish language and culture by the Regional Government of Castile and Leon .
The promotion and teaching of the Spanish language to foreigners and the accompanying dissemination of Spanish and Latin American culture around the world, represent a sector with excellent possibilities of growth.
The efforts of a number of different public and private organizations (among them the Castile and Leon Regional Government, the Instituto Cervantes, Salamanca Town Hall and the University of Salamanca) are of increasing importance for the development of a new kind of tourism and to meet the needs of foreign visitors coming to Spain.
Since 1995, demand for this kind of tourism has increased at a yearly rate of around 10%. In 2006, some 150,000 tourists visited Spain, with total spending of 255 million euros. The types of Spanish language courses available to overseas students in Spain include those offered by private centres, with 325 schools accounting for 80% of all visitors and public Universities, with over 40 centres, providing teaching for the rest.
Together with the teaching of Spanish, as a rapidly growing business sector and the effect it has on economic activity linked to tourist resources, a variety of cultural sectors are also emerging, with the Spanish language as their common factor. The economic aspect of Spanish is related to publishing, music, fashion, cuisine and a wide variety of cultural elements which typify the Spanish and Spanish-speakers.
The importance of discussing, analysing and drawing conclusions as to the value of the economic resources related to the Spanish language is of key importance to channel strategies in the present and the future and find those opportunities which offer the many viable niches in the market. This is the aim of the “International Congress on Spanish as a Value and Resource for Culture, Tourism and the Economy”, to be held in Salamanca in November of this year and which, we hope, will become a forum for discussion, open to all, universities, schools, teachers, agencies, publishers and all other sectors interested in the economic value of Spanish.
Juan Vicente Herrera
President of the Castile and Leon Regional Government
Castile and Leon, birthplace of the Spanish Language
Within this context, the Castile and Leon Regional Government, from the very same region which gave birth to the Spanish language, is one of the most prominent among the Spanish regional authorities, as regards the promotion of the language as an element of social and economic growth. It devised the Plan for Spanish for Foreigners programme, carried out between 2004 and 2011 together with numerous other activities, associated with the study of Spanish and tourism in Castile and Leon.
Plan for Spanish for Foreigners
The Plan for Spanish for Foreigners in Castile and Leon intends, among other aims, to establish Castile and Leon as the leading international destination to learn Spanish, to develop technologies, stimulate the publication of material, accommodation for students and other leisure activities. The main goal of the Plan is to double the number of foreign students coming to the Region to learn Spanish, currently standing at 30,000 and to also double the income generated, from 51 million to 120 million euros.
Other features of the Plan, forecast by the Castile and Leon Regional Government, include the presentation of the Plan at the Instituto Cervantes Centres around the world and at the 4th International Language Conference which was held in Medellin and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
The plan, which follows seven strategic lines of action, includes the improvement of what is offered in the region, support for language tourism, territorial restructuring, strengthening innovation, the promotion of cultural heritage, as well as business development and the cohesion and coordination of these actions.
“International Congress on the Value of Spanish” Spanish as a Value and Resource for Culture, Tourism and the Economy.
Among the actions promised by the Plan for Spanish for Foreigners, the promotion of the region as the leading international destination requires professional initiative to increase awareness of the region’s economic, tourist and cultural possibilities within the same framework. The International Congress on the value of the Spanish Language Spanish as a value and resource for culture, tourism and the economy is a high-level international forum, organised by the Castile and Leon Regional Government, in conjunction with the Instituto Cervantes and Turespaña, Salamanca Town Hall and the University of Salamanca.
This meeting, which takes place in the city of Salamanca in November 2008, will analyse the current state and future expectations of the language and its effect on culture, tourism and the economy over a three sessions.
The congress will welcome a number of top-level individuals from the world of business and training, culture, the media and international tourism and it will be the first of its kind to examine the economic effects of the worldwide diffusion and learning of Spanish from a tourism and cultural perspective
Institutional Support: Instituto Cervantes, Turespaña, Salamanca Town Hall and the University of Salamanca
Leading public Spanish institutions in the field have committed their support to helping develop the International Congress.
The Instituto Cervantes is a public institution, funded by the Ministry of Culture, set up in 1991 for the promotion and teaching of the Spanish language and the diffusion of Spanish and Latin American culture. The Instituto Cervantes has over 60 centres spread over five continents.
The Spanish Institute for Tourism (TURESPAÑA) is a State organism which depends on the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and is responsible for the international promotion of Spain as a tourist destination and is present in over 80 countries throughout the world.
