GIL STAUFFER ATTENDS HOTUSA EXPLORA, THE WORLD TOURISM AND INNOVATION EVENT IN MADRID

29/01/2020

On 20 January last, the VI Tourism Innovation Forum Hotusa Explora. The fairgrounds of IFEMA at Madridwas the venue for this interesting meeting. The event reflected the current situation of the sector, which seemed to have a promising future.

He opened the event, Amancio Pérez Seijaspresident of HotusaThe importance of tourism in the Spanish economy is presented as obvious, since it Spain is the second most popular tourist destination in the worldonly behind France. This is no coincidence, because our country offers safety, good transport links and a lifestyle that not only attracts tourists, but also businesses, start-upsetc. There is a competitiveness of companies in the sector, technology-based companies with a future and cities must adapt to this future. Madrid has it all to meet this requirement. In addition, Spain is a country with a magnificent internationalisation process And we are in a fast-moving world. We just have to adapt.

Clemente González Soler, President of the IFEMA Executive Committeefor its part, indicated that it was about to open its doors. FITURwhich, in its 40th edition, brings together more than eleven thousand companies from 165 countries and this is a privilege in the tourism sector. It is one of the most important fairs with international leadership.

Next, the Mayor of Madrid, José Luís Martínez-Almeidaargued that Madrid is fully committed to the tourism sector.. Madrid is a safe city, with a very good sanitary system, with an incredible gastronomic offer, with a golden mile of museums, with the Broadway Spanish on the Gran Vía, with a great offer for shopping tourism, major sporting events, etc. But we must continue to improve and tackle sustainability and the challenge of digital transformation to further increase the enjoyment of tourists.

Then, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Marotounderpinned all the above, objecting that tourism is a cornerstone that needs to be promoted by prioritising it.

Later, Bieito Rubido, director of ABCmoderated the round table discussion entitled ".Tourism as a strategic driver for economic developmentand argued that "tourism is the oil of the Spanish people" and that "tourism is the oil of the Spanish people". Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, CEO of Viajes El Corte Inglés; Javier Faus, president of Cercle Economy, y Gloria Guevara, president of World Travel & Tourism CouncilThe participants put forward their arguments on the proposed topic, agreeing that we are in a situation of era of change and that Spain is a leading power in the tourism sector and must face all the challenges of the present day.

Afterwards, Ana Isabel Pereda, director of Expansionmoderated the debate of Alex Cruz, CEO of British Airways, Maurici Lucena, President of AENA e Isaías Táboas, president of RENFE. Here the participants gave their version on the topic "Opportunities in infrastructure management and passenger transport to improve the competitiveness of the sector", agreeing that the evolution is now moving towards faster and more sustainable solutions.increasing the network of connectivities that make it easier to move around.

Later, Cyrrill Ranquepresident of Travel Partners Groupgave a presentation on "Strategies for the marketing of tourism products in a global and digitised scenario"This is a scenario to which it is necessary to adapt in order to survive. Marketing strategies must also be reformulated.

The event continued with a panel discussion entitled ".The impact of new trends in the hotel sector"which was moderated by the director of La Vanguardia, Marius Caroland whose members were: José Carlos Azacárraga, CEO of the Posadas Group; Alejando Zozaya, executive president of Apple Leisure Group; Raul Gonzalez, CEO EMEA of Barceló Hotel Group and again the president of the Hotusa Group, Amancio López Seijas. The debate revolved around the issue of the changing times with new audiences to which an immediate response must be given, also making a internationalisation effort.

Finally, the debate on "Innovation and new business models"was moderated by the co-founder of Galdana Ventures and was developed by Carlota Pi, executive president of Holaluz.com y Juan de Antonio, CEO of Cabify. The ground on which this talk moved was, once again, the challenge facing companies in all sectors to cope with change and to embrace new business models in which the technology has an undoubtedly leading role.

At  GIL STAUFFERWe are very pleased to have been invited to this wonderful event to see, once again, that many of the parameters of our market are similar to those of tourism. Apart from the fact that our business curve is similar to the seasonal curve of tourismWe have found that we have the same concerns about tackling the same challenges: the digitisationthe technological innovation and the sustainability. But it is that OUR BUSINESSin a way, too is an intrinsic part of this tourism sector network.We are agents of many reforms and rehabilitations enhancers of hotel businesses and tourism, we transfer employees of tourism companies around the world and we perform office removals of any tour operator. We have worked for many prestigious hotelscollaborating in countless emptying of hotel establishments to be refurbished to renovate its facilities. Thus, the Palace Hotelthe Ritzthe Castellana Inter-Continentalthe Botanist, Barceló, Meliá and a long etcetera of large emblematic hotels have been our clients. We are therefore pleased to be, in a way, part of this sector of tourism, which involves a large inflow of income and in which Spain is the number two country in the world ranking.

Since 1905, our greatest satisfaction has been your satisfaction.