Benvinguts a Pagès exceeds 50,000 visitors and is established as the weekend for citizens to meet farming and fishing

• The great festival of the Catalan peasantry, which shows the origin of the country's food products in an experience that spreads throughout the territory, continues to grow and attracts loyal visitors who repeat and take advantage of the offer of accommodation and restaurants and affiliated restaurants
   
• The fourth edition of 'Benvinguts a Pagès' increases the number of visitors by 50% compared to last year in open days in the world of farming that highlight the country's primary sector and become a benchmark every first weekend of June
   
• The offer that had more than 700 activities this year has included seven tourist routes that will be available throughout the year

Catalonia has experienced this first weekend of June the great festival of the Catalan peasantry. More than 50,000 visits have responded to the call for Benvinguts a Pagès, two days of open doors for agricultural and livestock farms, fisheries and farms throughout the country. The weather has been splendid and thousands of people have traveled through the nearly 700 activities scheduled throughout this Sunday and yesterday Saturday to rediscover the origin of the products that are consumed every day, walk the territory and fill the pantry. The great festival of the Catalan peasantry is confirmed as a unique experience that continues to grow, builds visitor loyalty, adds new audiences and is established as a fun event and reconnection of the primary sector with the public, coinciding with the first weekend of June. The success of this fourth edition of Benvinguts a Pagès doubles the number of people who visited the farms last year and participated in the multiple activities throughout the weekend. Families, foodie profiles, groups of friends and all types of public have moved around the territory to enjoy, learn, taste and buy products from all sectors and regions.

The protagonist of Benvinguts a Pagès has been for the farmers and producers of the country who have opened the doors of their farms and farms to teach the production and preparation of the products that are consumed every day. The public has gotten to know the processes and also countless personal stories of the day-to-day life of a primary sector that is becoming essential for quality food and the balance of the country. In addition, the Benvinguts a Pagès experience has made it easy for visitors to taste the products and buy them, filling the pantry with a wide range of all kinds of seasonal, local and high-quality food. The evaluation surveys collected at the end of the visits indicate a high degree of satisfaction on the part of the public with an average score that exceeds 9 out of 10. In addition, it means an important return for the participating farmers, since 80% of the visitors have bought directly from the producers during the visits. In addition, on the part of the Benvinguts a Pagès farms, it is an action to create and retain customers throughout the year. This year there was a high percentage of repeat visitors who gave a positive evaluation and repeated the experience.
 

Transversal initiative throughout the weekend

The high participation and good response from visitors has not only benefited the nearly 200 holdings and farms scattered throughout the territory, but has also had a positive effect for the 130 restaurants involved in the initiative, which have served the Benvinguts a Pagès menu, and the more than 200 participating accommodations that have offered special weekend packages. At the same time, more than a hundred complementary activities have been programmed throughout the territory, such as gastronomic fairs, guided tours, nature itineraries, rice plantations... a great diversity of informational events related to and to highlight the primary sector. This year, the Costa Brava, Paisatges de Barcelona, Costa Barcelona, Costa Daurada, Terres de l'Ebre, Terres de Lleida and Pirineus weekend routes have been added, with a focus on participating farmers and producers who have opened their doors and remain available to the public throughout the year, beyond the Benvinguts a Pagès weekend.

Consolidation of Benvinguts a Pagès during the first weekend of June

The departments of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and Food, through Prodeca - Promoter of Catalan food, the Department of Business and Knowledge, through the Catalan Tourism Agency, and the Alícia Foundation value very positively the degree of loyalty and the good reception that Benvinguts a Pagès 2019 has had. "We emphasize that the experience grows year after year and the primary sector of the whole country is valued in initiative that continues to build loyalty and add new audiences, de-seasonalize tourism and generate wealth throughout the territory", the organization points out. The initiative has once again had the collaboration of county councils, town councils, consortia and tourism offices, as well as the Super3 Club and numerous entities and associations that work for the revaluation and promotion of the primary sector. Benvingut a Pagès is consolidated in the first weekend of June and as the event that the primary sector and citizens meet and regenerate complicity.

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