The managers of tourism companies and also the public officials linked to this activity are smiling again this summer. Accustomed to years marked by sustained increases in tourist numbers, the pandemic suddenly cut short all their positive forecasts. With a world gripped by mobility limitations and contact restrictions, the summers of 2020 and 2021 are two black holes in memory and in the business operating account of a sector that in 2019 represented 12.4 % of Spanish GDP.
After that dark stage, the summer of 2022 is marked by the recovery of tourism. To delve into how this process is going and analyze some of the challenges that the sector faces, 'La Vanguardia' held a face-to-face meeting this week at the Club Monteverdi in Madrid that brought together experts and representatives of companies in the sector.
Jaume Masdeu, economics editor at La Vanguardia, was in charge of opening the event and welcoming the attendees who filled the room on behalf of the Godó Group. The journalist made reference to how the fall in tourism due to the measures to contain the coronavirus made "the Spanish economy one of the most punished among the European ones due to its dependence on the tourism sector."
The journalist from La Vanguardia referred to the update this week of Funcas' economic forecasts, which maintained growth for Spain at 4.2%, despite announcing a drop of around 7 points in consumption. Despite the impact of such a loss of purchasing power in the economy, "the growth forecast is maintained thanks to income from tourism." On behalf of the Community of Madrid, Luis Martín Izquierdo, General Director of Tourism, intervened, stressing that "these are still times of uncertainty and it is important that the public and private sectors work together".
The event continued with a conference by Fernando Gallardo, journalist, writer and tourism expert, who focused on the recovery of tourism in Spain and focused on some of the challenges that the sector must tackle to consolidate its growth and influence in the future on a global scale.
Gallardo assured that "we are experiencing a 'champagne effect' with very high occupancy levels" and warned about the impact that high inflation will have in the coming months. On the other hand, in the opinion of this expert, the war in Ukraine will not have major negative consequences for the Spanish tourism industry.
Regarding the medium-long-term future, the expert stated that Spain “has to prepare itself to receive 150 million tourists and also start thinking about Asia”. Regarding more structural changes, Gallardo expressed his conviction that "if we are leaders in cost optimization we must also be leaders in process automation".
The expert expressed his point of view that Spain is one of the world leaders as a tourist destination, but not as a tourist industry. For Gallardo it is necessary for Spanish companies in the sector to gain in volume by establishing alliances.
After the conference, the debate began in which, in addition to Luis Martín Izquierdo and Fernando Gallado, Juan Miguel Morales, general director of the Ávoris Corporación Empresarial vacation network, and Mario Otero, director of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport from 1st of July.
Gallardo stressed that the summer "is being very good." The expert highlighted that the data is confirming the good moment of Madrid as an international destination. For Gallado, the city “is destined to be one of the great international tourist capitals of the future”. The general director of tourism of the Community of Madrid resorted to the numbers to endorse the good moment that the tourist activity is experiencing in his region. "The latest data for May reflected an 85% recovery in the tourism market, 100% for domestic tourists and 75% for foreign visitors." However, with a significant increase in spending per tourist. Luis Martín assured that “Madrid is fashionable”. For the CEO, this is not a casual event and it comes from before the pandemic. "The company from Madrid has made a spectacular leap in all areas and, at a given moment, the regional policy of opening up, of supporting the hospitality industry, the hotel industry, culture and being an open destination, was very successful," he assured.
The General Director of Tourism stated that “Madrid is in the top 5 of world cities in terms of quality and variety of cultural and leisure activities”. Waiting for the June data, Martín explained that the occupation in the first fortnight of July was above 80% and in the second the hoteliers report that it is above 70%. "What has failed us is Asian tourism, which is still closed and is what we have lacked to have a full recovery," he lamented.
Juan Miguel Morales, as an expert in outbound tourism, provided the session with data on how and where Spaniards are traveling. The general director of Ávoris Corporación Empresarial highlighted that the company, of which the Barceló Group and Globalia are shareholders, is the result of “a merger designed in the pre-pandemic and made in the pandemic”.
Morales acknowledged that the 'champagne effect' to which Fernando Gallardo referred in his presentation is detected in the trips of the Spanish this summer. For the director of Ávoris, this effervescence "is related to the high savings rate of many families during the pandemic, but also with the urgent desire to interact, to go out, to return to normality." The share of the issuing market stands at 85% in relation to the figures for 2019.
Regarding the destinations preferred by the Spanish, Morales highlighted the importance that the national market continues to have. In the international sphere, “among the most popular destinations, the Riviera Maya and Punta Cana, in the Caribbean, and to a lesser extent Egypt, should be highlighted, which have remained open, although with minor restrictions, during the pandemic.” The latest movements reveal a growing interest in "the entire area of North America and we start with Europe." The outbound tourism expert spoke of the good performance of cruise ships, which suffered greatly from the virus.
For his part, the new director of the Madrid airport highlighted that this facility is registering "traffic peaks similar to those of 2019". Mario Otero stated that "we are the largest airport operator in the world by volume of passengers." The Aena executive highlighted the fact that the company "maintained the workforce during the pandemic without making an ERTE, with the airports open and operational", which has made it possible to assume the recovery of traffic and makes a difference with the situation of other European airports .
Otero points out that "we want our customers to also experience positive sensations and experiences when passing through the airport". In this sense, the person in charge of Madrid-Barajas points out that "we are using new technologies such as biometrics in border control and in the near future in other processes that help us speed up the passage, and we are redesigning the process of pass the security check to provide a better passenger experience.”
Regarding the learning that the pandemic has left in the sector, Luis Martín stated that “even in the worst moments, we must take advantage of the opportunities that arise and that, in our case, has allowed us to make a very important change in the international positioning of Madrid as a tourist destination. The General Director of Tourism assured that we have learned that "the tourist does what he wants and is often unpredictable".
Morales explained that "the pandemic has forced us to move forward very quickly." The person in charge of Ávoris stressed that "the power lies with the client and we have to adapt".
From a practical point of view, this means “being able to cancel reservations free of charge and thus be able to change vacations with absolute freedom, speed and ease”.
Regarding the airport's capacity to assume a significant growth in the number of tourists, Otero assured that "the only way to do so is through infrastructure planning and the growing use of technology to streamline processes." The director of Madrid-Barajas stated that "we can never be a brake on the development of the destination and that means that we always have to be a little ahead of its needs" and work together. Luis Martín assured that the success of Madrid as an international destination is also due to the collaboration that exists between the public administration and private companies. "Madrid has
given a quite important change in recent times, but we are not satisfied and we want to continue growing as a great long-haul international destination that includes more tourists from America, Asia and also the Middle East”, said the General Director of Tourism.
Among other objectives, Martín mentioned the purpose of increasing the average length of stay for travellers, seasonally adjusting demand and "making Madrid begin to be seen as a great one-week holiday destination, which I am convinced it is."
