SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 5 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Adeje will bring together a hundred European representatives of the hotel and tourism industry from 35 countries to reflect at the end of April on the future of the sector in the European Union.
Thus, professionals from hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes and similar establishments in Europe will meet from April 26 to 28 in the south of Tenerife to celebrate the 86th General Assembly of their employers, Hotrec, a business conclave that will be held at the hotel GF Victoria.
Tenerife was the destination chosen last October in Stockholm as the venue for the next European hospitality assembly, which has Ashotel as the host association, as well as the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) and Hospitality of Spain as co-organizers.
To present the keys to this assembly, this Wednesday the president of Ashotel and CEHAT, Jorge Marichal; the mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga and the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín.
During the event, the video messages of the President of Hotrec, Alexandros Vassilikos, and the President of Hospitality of Spain, José Luis Yzuel, were also transferred.
Jorge Marichal recalled that the hotel industry in Spain “is a fundamental pillar” of the economy and part of the country’s “DNA”, for which reason “it is a great satisfaction” to become a “meeting point for the sector at a European level”.
In addition, he pointed out that “until now, Spain and the Canary Islands have been predominantly tourism receiving destinations, a perfect opportunity to tell Hotrec representatives from mainly emitting countries what they are like as a destination.”
“We are a sector of which we should feel very proud,” said Marichal forcefully, who regretted that in certain areas the tourist activity is insulted.
The president of Ashotel and CEHAT reported that this business meeting comes at a key moment, just when Spain will assume the Presidency of the European Union on July 1, “a unique opportunity to expose the idiosyncrasies of the island territory, in terms of the regime differentiated economic and fiscal (REF)”.
In this regard, he added that the geographical situation of the archipelago makes it highly dependent on air connectivity, “the Achilles heel” of the destination.
“It is important that we are able to make our colleagues understand that the legislation that is being negotiated in Europe can affect the Canary Islands as a top-level tourist destination,” said Marichal, in clear allusion to the current debate on the so-called ‘green rate’ for fuel of the planes.
EXEMPTION TO THE GREEN TAX
In this sense, he recalled that the Canary Islands tourist employers and other business and political organizations have requested to leave the Canary Islands exempt from environmental taxation.
This request is justified not only in the condition of the Canary Islands as an Outermost Region, but also due to the relevance of tourism in its productive fabric, also based on efficient connectivity with its main source markets, European countries, collects a note from Ashotel.
Pedro Martín highlighted the fact that Tenerife once again hosts an international event to debate and reflect on the future of the hospitality industry, and emphasized the work carried out to promote new tourism strategies linked to sustainability and digitization.
MARTÍN: COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY
“Europe has drawn up a strategy for the present and the future of sustainable tourism, and in Tenerife we have aligned our objectives to promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, strengthen the resilience of the destination, mitigate the effects of the pandemic and support ecological transitions and digital, two key factors of competitiveness”, he indicated.
Martín thanked the organizing entities for having managed to hold this European business conclave in Tenerife.
“It is important that we can listen to the sector towards where it is progressing and put public administrations in tune with the private sector,” he added, and praised the importance of Tenerife as a destination that “has the largest total air traffic in the Canary Islands and connects with 137 destinations in 31 markets through 54 airlines”.
Meanwhile, for José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, this is a “good moment” since tourism keeps the main engine of the economy dynamic.
He also considered that “both for the Canary Islands, Tenerife and Adeje it is important that this assembly be held here, because it demonstrates the capacity and solvency to organize conventions of this type, which are highly demanding at a technical and infrastructure level, which keep them at the center of the sector as a leading and consolidated destination that seeks constant excellence”.
UNION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE PRIVATE
He also added that the fact that the main organizations that bring together the European hospitality sector meet “is essential to make visible the demands and the need for the public and the private to go hand in hand for mutual benefit”, and in the case of the administrations, “so that the wealth it generates is distributed appropriately and serves to provide opportunities for all citizens”.
“We will not cease to demand the necessary improvement of all the services offered to tourists, in the search for excellence in all areas,” said the mayor of Adeje, who cited training as an example of this need for improvement. .
Finally, he congratulated the organizers for bringing this event to Adeje and recalled that “you don’t play with things to eat, and tourism is one of those things to eat.”
For his part, Alexandros Vassilikos intervened in the press conference through a video message.
“We are pleased to see that our industry is strong anywhere in Europe, even in the outermost regions such as the Canary Islands,” said the Greek businessman, who added that “delegates from all over Europe will travel to Tenerife” to participate in the General Assembly somewhat that will allow to “observe and experience the wonders” of the island.
Likewise, José Luis Yzuel also considered in a recorded video message that the Hotrec General Assembly “is an opportunity to demonstrate the unity of all European countries on an issue as important to all as tourism”, while he valued to be held in the Canary Islands, “a perfect framework to work side by side and be able to move forward and anticipate all the future challenges that come at a European level”.
KEY ISSUES
The representatives of the European hospitality industry will debate and reflect during the three days on issues related to sectoral regulations and regulations, digitization, training and retention of talent in the sector, accessibility, electronic commerce or housing for tourist use and sustainability , among other matters.
Likewise, Ashotel has programmed for the second day of the assembly a technical conference on tourism sustainability, one of the key axes of the sector, in which different specialized professionals will intervene.
This conference, which will take place at the facilities of the Renewable Energy Technology Institute (ITER), an international reference research center in renewable energy, engineering, telecommunications, environment and genomics dependent on the Cabildo de Tenerife, includes a visit to the bioclimatic homes and it will be a meeting point for the exchange of real experiences that some associated and European companies have launched in terms of sustainability.
The internal work sessions on the first day will take place at the GF Victoria hotel, in Costa Adeje. In addition, Ashotel has designed a whole program of parallel activities that result in getting to know the destination.
