Plaza
Colon, Madrid , Spain, location of the main tourism office, where anyone
visiting Madrid should pilgrimage right after arriving into the city, wouldn’t
you? So did I and visited the center looking for a hip energetic, cutting edge
space where all my questions will be answered about what to do or how to enjoy
Madrid City. I arrived at the well located Plaza Colon, in the heart of the
city easily connected by public transportation and cross road of the art mile
and shopping mile in Madrid . A big totem with multimedia screens provides
signage of the location…., expectation raises about the space. The space, is
actually located underground, under the Castellana Avenue, main artery that
runs north to South of the city. I head downstairs and find….the most empty,
dull and scary space ever!! Only a security guard is there…looking at me as If
I am lost, of course , I am confused and ask her about the information center.
She points a dark glass closed area with two ladies behind their desks which I
assume look like BORING TO DEATH. I don’t dare to walk into the area since I
considered I will be bitten by information vampires’ hungry of tourist and
visitor´s blood. I walk out but I take a picture to remind me about posting
this experience.
Since 2010
i have been a Madrid resident and had the chance to co-work and be an active
listener and tried to be an active collaborator with Madrid´s tourism strategy .It
has been a frustrating experience and even now, looking at it more as a citizen
or observer rather than a professional makes me sad and can’t comprehend the
unknown dimension behind decision making processes and big mistakes.
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| Picture February 2013 by Anna Domingo |
I can’t
understand why the spot located under Plaza Colon meant to be the hub for
tourism information , the location is not really a major tourism artery and
going underground only makes sense if you have tons of tourist traffic (not the
case) , the visibility and signage is not good , but, most importantly it is a
horrible copy-paste from the successful one in Barcelona at Plaza Catalonia ;
which leads me to the fact that Madrid tourism strategy is always copy-pasting
the successful Barcelona one. I think here resides the problem. It is not about
copying, it is about to design and communicate your marketing destination
differently and accordingly to your real traffic. I am not saying re-inventing
the wheel is necessary but as a professional I must say that notoriety comes
from differentiation and Madrid must go into this direction. It is an honor participating of a project that is differentiating and making this happen PLATEAMADRID in Madrid and a new milestone achievement will be made .
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