Flagler College: Spain and Morocco Marketing Study Abroad Program (2023)

Fly to Madrid, Spain this afternoon. This is an overnight flight.

After we get settled into our hotel we head out to get acquainted with Spain’s cosmopolitan capital city with the help of a local guide.

• Pass by the Temple of Debod, a reassembled temple from ancient Egypt
• View the Royal Palace, Spain’s largest royal residence
• View the city’s many squares, including Plaza de España and the bustling Puerta del Sol
• Explore the Prado, a world-class art museum that began as the private collection of the Spanish monarchy and is home to the works of Goya, Velásquez, and more

Today we drive to Seville stopping along the way for lunch in a traditional Spanish hillside village. Students will get to talk to locals about how they market their local businesses and how these “out of the way” towns use marketing to attract foreign visitors. Students will have the chance to explore the town and write about the differences between marketing businesses in remote places compare to marketing in Madrid.

Today students will look at how Seville uses tourism to market to clients from abroad. Students will begin the day meeting with a local guide company who will give a lecture on how COVID affected the tour industry and how Seville has rebounded.

Students will uncover the beauty of Seville, the historic Andalusian capital, on a guided sightseeing tour.

• View the tiled pavilion of the Plaza de España and step inside the Gothic Seville Cathedral, the third-largest church in the world
• Pass the whitewashed homes of Barrio de Santa Cruz

In the evening we will head out to the famed restaurant PETRA. Here, students will get to try traditional dishes and a welcome dinner.

Today after breakfast we head off to Granada making several stops as you travel towards Granada. Natural settings are an important part of Spanish life and many agricultural businesses thrive throughout the regions we will be traveling. Competition is tough especially among the many wineries and olive businesses and students will have an opportunity to talk to people directly involved in these industries to see how unique marketing ideas help them get ahead.
Students will:

• Stop at an olive oil farm and join a local guide for a tour of the olive groves, mill, and cellar
• Sample some orange-infused olive oil drizzled on top of chocolate gelato and then make our way to the town of Córdoba, which was once home to 700 mosques, 900 public baths, and 70 libraries
• Enter the Mezquita, a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the eighth century as a mosque and then transformed into a cathedral during the Christian Reconquista of 1236

Continue to Granada and, after checking into our hotel head out on a night tour and dinner of the city.

Take a guided tour of the UNESCO-recognized Alhambra, the Moorish sultans’ last stronghold in Spain.

• Walk along the Cypress Promenade to view the upper and lower gardens of Generalife Palace, once the Nasrid dynasty’s summer home
• Enjoy panoramic views overlooking Granada and the surrounding countryside
• View the unique curved, Roman-style courtyard inside the Palace of Charles V
• Admire the blend of Western art and Islamic design as you stroll through ornamented courtyards
• Enter the Nasrid Palaces and see the Mexuar, where the Council of Ministers met
• See where the royal family lived during visits to Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions

In the evening students get to head out for a free evening in Granada or add an excursion.

Travel to Tarifa to board your ferry to Tangier, Morocco. Once in Tangier we settle into our hotel and then head out to get acquainted with the city. A traditional dinner awaits us.

Begin your day with a guided tour of Tangier, a city celebrated by Western writers like Paul Bowles and William Burroughs.

• Explore the stately French plaza and Boulevard Pasteur
• Traverse the maze-like passageways through the medina

Then, stop in Chaouen, a hilltop town famous for its blue-painted buildings. Admire panoramic views of the city, then stroll through the streets to soak in Chaouen’s unique character.
Continue to Fes and sit down for a traditional dinner.

Take a guided tour of Fes, the spiritual and cultural center of Moroccan life. Students will get a true sense of how Moroccan’s market product to both locals and foreign travelers as they tour this bustling cultural hub.

• See the ornate brass doors of the Royal Palace and visit the Mellah Jewish Quarter
• View the Bab Bou Jeloud, a blue-tiled gate that exemplifies the Moorish architectural style
• Attend a ceramics demonstration, where you’ll learn how the intricate and colorful art pieces are created and have free time to pick up a souvenir
• Explore the UNESCO-listed Fes Medina on a walking tour through the colorful souks
• Stop at a tannery to learn about the traditional method of dying clothes and enjoy free time to shop
• Visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss and the University of al-Karaouine, the world’s oldest continually operating institution for higher education

Sit down for a dinner this evening with locals who will tell us how health and wellness programs and adventure travel is reshaping the desert landsape.

As you make your way to Casablanca, stop to tour Morocco’s capital city of Rabat.

• Enter the white and green Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which houses the tombs of the 20th-century king and his two sons
• View Hassan Tower, intended to be the world’s largest mosque until construction halted in 1199
• Make a photo stop at the Royal Palace
• Walk through the Kasbah des Oudaias to see the mouth of the Bou Regreg river and the Andalusian gardens

Continue to Casablanca and sit down for an included dinner at a local restaurant this evening.

Discover the highlights of seaside Casablanca, a city with a modern-day legend that was established by Old Hollywood, with a local guide.

• Pass the fashionable Corniche waterfront area and Casablanca’s ancient medina, the bustling heart of the city
• Enter the Hassan II Mosque, the largest in Morocco

Then it’s on to travel to Marrakech and spend a free evening in the city.
Moroccan Evening & Sunset Camel Ride

Spend a free morning in Marrakech or add an excursion.
Then, get a feel for the history of the city on this afternoon’s guided tour.

• Pass through the sophisticated Gueliz district
• Marvel at the massive Koutoubia Mosque, which features a minaret that reaches nearly 200 feet high and dominates the city’s skyline
• Enter the UNESCO-listed Medina of Marrakech to see the Bahia Palace
• Step inside the evocative Saadian Tombs, the mausoleum for the 16th-century ruling princes
• Walk through the city’s vibrant souks, stopping at a spice market where you’ll have free time to shop
• Visit Djemaa el Fna, a festive, open-air market where musicians, snake charmers, and clowns perform

Today we get to something special! Our partner organization will be taking us to sand dunes of Erg Chegaga to learn all about tourism in the desert! What an amazing way to wrap up this once in a lifetime journey.

Today we start the long journey home, but the memories will last a lifetime.