Campaign #BeLegalMyFriend 2018

The Generalitat Valenciana (GVA) had already started in the beginning of 2018 a campaign against the intrusiveness in the tourist housing sector in Gandia (Valencia), to put an end to the legal fraud of some of those tourist apartments that operated clandestinely. The campaign recalled that in the event that the owner of the house does not register the tourist activity in an official manner, it could be sanctioned with up to 90,152 Euros (the highest stretch) and a flat closure for three years. In parallel, together with the General Council of Schools of Property Administrators of the Region, the GVA developed a guide for owners and users of this type of housing to be aware of their obligations to neighbours and the community.

But it was not until July 2018 that the Tourism Board of the Valencian Community, through a specific call for grants, allowed interested companies and associations to present projects that transcended inspection and punitive actions. Under this call, FEVITUR presented the campaign · # Belegalmyfriend, which, due to its national and international impact, became the first major campaign in favour of the regulation of tourist housing.

For Responsible and Sustainable Tourism, #BeLegalmyfriend

The campaign started in July 2018 to respond, globally, to the specific objective for which it was convened: ("awareness-raising and fight against the intrusiveness in the tourist accommodation offer"). It was not directed exclusively to the users of the tourist accommodation in the Community, nor pursued its promotion. It was a campaign of social awareness, almost pedagogical, that spoke positively of the advantages of regularizing the tourist housing sector.

Exporting the brand "Valencian Community"

The campaign not only valued the offer of regulated housing and holiday apartments in the Region, but included them within the destination brand "Valencian Community" and linked them to all its values (open, inclusive, welcoming, hospitable and receptive with the visitor).

Thanks to its great repercussion, the campaign was also presented in Brussels, in London and in the last National Congress of Tourist Housing in Malaga, reaching a final audience of more than 1 million users in mass media, more than 150,000 in social media networks and more than 1,000 visits on the website, which allowed the #BeLegalmyfriend brand, in just six months, to reach a notable role in the field of related search terms on the Internet: