Escarrer defends a new inter-institutional and public/private governance at the 12th Exceltur Forum
The XII Exceltur Forum "Purpose and Commitment: towards the tourism we all want" opened its doors after announcing the positive data that tourism has yielded in 2023 with an activity of 186. 596 million euros, which represents 12.8% of the Spanish economy, data that show its key role "as an engine of prosperity of Spanish society," said Gabriel Escarrer, president of Exceltur and president of Meliá Hotels International, who also defended a new inter-institutional and public/private governance, sustainable tourism models and the prosecution of illegal tourist housing.
- Five key axes
- New global tourism realities
- Enhancing the image of tourism
- Macroeconomic trends in 2024
Escarrer recalled the sector's contribution to Spanish GDP and employment, of which he highlighted the drop in temporary employment (from 35% in 2019 to 8%), the increase in permanent contracts with 91%, 45.3% full time, and wage remuneration, above the Spanish average, he said. "This is an example of business courage and commitment that I can say we are very proud of, but without being complacent or triumphalist," he said.
In this respect, he alluded to the companies "weighed down by two years of sharp falls in their activity", for whom he called for greater institutional aid. He also criticised "the mere territorial distribution with little impact" of the Next Generation funds without taking into account the business vision.
Escarrer also alluded to the problems caused by tourism in some areas, such as overcrowding and gentrification, largely due, he said, to illegal and poorly controlled housing, and reiterated the need to develop new models of tourism management under the most efficient public-private governance.
Five key axes
Alleviating the saturation of spaces and generating more sustainable tourism; safeguarding the values that make up the differential identity of the destinations; fostering better working conditions; promoting greater environmental commitment; and promoting legal formulas for public-private tourism governance are the five axes proposed by Exceltur and which must be tackled "with a vision of state" and jointly and consensually by the Government, said Escarrer.
Finally, and on behalf of the more than 30 companies in Exceltur and with the backing of the presidents of the main employers' associations of the tourism sub-sectors, he referred to the sector's demands: to give tourism the relevance, recognition and political priority it deserves, recovering the Interministerial Commission on Tourism; to promote a strategic roadmap to 2030, which identifies priorities and favours joint actions between the administrations and these with the private sector; to strengthen the instruments that encourage and facilitate public and private investment to improve the tourist offer in the destinations; and to work to improve the perception and social recognition of tourism and to pursue with the utmost forcefulness "the uncontrolled growth" of tourist housing.
Earlier, the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, took the floor to highlight the strength of tourism, which he described as a "universal phenomenon" that embodies fundamental values such as tolerance. He also spoke of its drive and transformative nature and thanked Exceltur not only for holding this Forum, but also for knowing how to manage success, after the good results in 2023, "through self-demand, analysis, debate and reflection".
The minister recalled the serious situation that was experienced with the pandemic, "Spain has been and is a benchmark", he stressed, and how the administrations and the business sector fought and did not give up, having "resilience and resistance" to recover and transform itself. "I would like to acknowledge and thank the Spanish business sector for its drive," Hereu said, after also alluding to the important economic figures for tourism last year in terms of the number of tourists who visited Spain, 84 million, as well as the spending that had an impact on the Spanish economy, which amounted to 108 million euros and which generated more and better employment and, he said, marked the sector's fight for quality.
He also referred to FITUR, which opens its doors tomorrow, and which will showcase Spain as a "powerful brand in the world" and reiterated the greatness of tourism, "the industry of happiness", as a great promoter of social, economic and cultural development.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony was José Vicente de los Mozos, Chairman of the Executive Committee of IFEMA, in whose Convention Centre this Forum is being held, who stressed the importance of this meeting for the present and future of tourism and of FITUR, "the most important event in the world in terms of participants and attendees", which begins tomorrow.
For his part, Fernando Candela, President of FITUR and President of Iberia, spoke of the opportunity, after such a good year that has been a historic record and with good prospects for 2024, not to become complacent, but to reflect and address the changes needed for the future, mainly in four areas: experiential tourism, digitalisation, sustainability and public-private collaboration.
Finally, Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said that he brought good news as a total of 1.3 billion tourists travelled during 2023, 86 million to Spain, a country "that is a great example" for all UNWTO members "who demand excellence".
New global tourism realities
Under the title "Out of the box: new global tourism realities", the first session opened with the participation of Luis Araujo, former President of Turismo de Portugal; Gabriele Burgio, President of Alpitour-Italy; Steve Heapy, Chief Executive Officer of Jet2holidays; Christine Maguire, Global Vice President of Tripadvisor; Miguel Sanz, President of the European Travel Commission and Director General of Turespaña; and José Luis Zoreda, Executive Vice President of Exceltur, who acted as moderator.
In this first debate, it became clear that the negative vision that is being produced in some Spanish cities due to problems derived from tourism, such as overcrowding, gentrification or environmental management, is also being repeated in other countries, as explained by the representatives of tour operators from the participating countries, who also agreed to seek joint solutions with the support of the administrations and to tend towards quality and more sustainable tourism.
Enhancing the image of tourism
"Valuing the image of tourism: a common objective" was the focus of the debate of the following panel, which included Javier Gándara, President of ALA; Carlos Garrido, President of CEAV; Jorge Marichal, President of CEHAT; Emilio Gallego, Secretary General of CEHE; Juan Luis Barahona, President of FENEVAL; and José Luis Zoreda as moderator.
The speakers acknowledged the social rejection of tourism that is taking place, but agreed that they are not responsible for it, "we defend ourselves from things that should not be blamed on the sector", said Marichal, who also advocated "getting rid of our complexes". As a solution, they proposed that there should be more information and communication, that the truth should be told about what the sector is doing and what it means on an economic and social level, with the increase in jobs, the protection of the environment and heritage, the distribution of wealth... "we must have a vision of a strategic sector", said the secretary general of CEHE. The vice-president of Exceltur closed the debate by stressing that the sector has to do things as well as possible "so that we are valued", seeking social sustainability and empathy with society, as well as the help of public administrations.
Macroeconomic trends in 2024
The Forum was also attended by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, Chairman of Caixabank, who held a dialogue with Juan Orti, Chairman of American Express Spain, on the macroeconomic trends that will mark tourism this year.
Goirigolzarri stressed that we are in a context of great changes, that 2023 for the Spanish economy has been a good year "and I admit that I was surprised", and that this year it will grow by 1.4%, a figure that if compared with Europe "is not bad", although, he added, that short-term visions must be complemented with a greater temporality, hence, if we analyse from 2008 to 2023, we can see that per capita income has been meagre with a growth of 16%, while in Europe it has been double that in Europe. With regard to real per capita income, he pointed out that it is similar to 2008, "that is why facing a future of growth is fundamental in the agenda to maintain the financing of the State and if we look to the future, the engine of the Spanish economy is tourism," he said.
The Chairman of Caixabank also spoke of the record figures obtained by the tourism sector, the capacity for recovery that has made Spain the leading country in the world in terms of tourism and the growth that it will continue to enjoy in 2024, "double the speed of the Spanish economy as a whole".
Among other issues, in this dialogue, Goirigolzarri also referred to the important medium and long-term challenges facing the sector, such as management capacity, Spain's geostrategic position and the deseasonalisation of tourism in the country; to interest rates and the effort being made by businessmen, "in 2010 credit to companies was 140% of GDP, today it is 86% below the EU; the effort of Spanish businessmen is very remarkable"; and the need to strengthen vocational training in view of the large number of jobs that will be generated by the tourism sector in the coming years.