The Costa del Sol Provincial Tourist Board was created on 29 April 1976, on the basis of the Costa del Sol Promoters Cooperative. It was protected by Law 191/1964 of 24 December, on association rights. Its articles of association state that the Board is aimed at “promoting a consortium encouraging the participation of private business, the most important provincial travel corporations at the local level, and the Government.” As described in the inaugural session, the creation of the Tourist Board was “a response to the problems faced by the travel industry in the province.”

It was only in June 1978 when the Civil Government of Málaga included the Costa del Sol Tourist Board in the Register of Associations. A few months later, its articles of association underwent their first amendment. They were then amended on several occasions, in 1983, 1989, 1993, 1996, and 2000. However, the membership requirements and the institution’s governing bodies –the Permanent Committee, the Governing Board, and the General Assembly– remained the same.

The first President of the Tourist Board was the Civil Governor of Málaga. He was succeeded by businessmen in the travel industry who contributed to make history on the Costa del Sol: Agustín Picazo, José Galeote, Rafael Núñez, and Ángel Carazo.

The year 1989 marked a turning point in the history of the Organisation. When Antonio Maldonado took office as the President of the Provincial Government of Málaga, he signed an agreement whereby the Government became the Tourist Board’s “majority shareholder,” and provided most of the funds, which increased as time went by. This put an end to the Tourist Board’s economic dire straits, which had characterised the institution since its inception. Since then, being the President of the Tourist Board has been a prerogative and a task of the President of the Provincial Government.

However, the chief executive of the Board is its Managing Director. This position was held by Carlos Gil, José Juan Abrines, Juan Antonio Castillo, Antonio Andrade, Felipe Paramio, Ana Gómez (the first appointed woman), Juan Antonio Martín, Antonio Díaz and once again, Ana Gómez.

It would be impossible to mention all the events the Tourist Board has been part of in its thirty-year history. Among all the fairs and tradeshows in the travel industry and within the event planning in the province and in other places, some events have been particularly significant to the development of the Costa del Sol as a tourist destination.

The first big event was the organisation of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) Conference in 1978. (This association chose the Costa del Sol again in 1998.) Conferences of other important organisations followed: the Confederation of Latin American Tourism Organisations (COTAL) or the German Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (DRV) are but two examples. Also, the Tourist Board organised music events –the World Dance Costa del Sol, or the Rolling Stones in Concert–, and several international golf tournaments. All these events have contributed to turning the Costa del Sol into the leading region in the Peninsular Spanish travel market.

As for promotion and publicity, the Sunbook was a groundbreaking publication that took word on the Costa del Sol to the farthest corners of the world. The “Sun Bus” covered thousands of kilometres in Spain to attract national tourists to the region. The results show how successful it was. 

Last but not least, thousands of journalists or reporters have been invited to the Costa del Sol by the Tourist Board to write articles about the region. The effects of this promotional action have always been very positive.