Barcelona has to make an effort of overcoming and progress to recover leadership

--- Why have you chosen Barcelona to reflect on the future of tourism?

--- Mainly because, already when the coronavirus pandemic was declared, I realized that where the tourism sector would behave worst would be in Barcelona. From my experience as president of Fira de Barcelona for 14 years, I knew the importance of foreign tourism for the city, largely due to visitors who come to attend fairs and congresses. That's why we have chosen Barcelona, and even more so at this moment, the beginning of tourism's recovery. Proof of my intuition is that currently, tourism recovery in Barcelona is slower than in other areas, precisely because of that dependence on fairs and congresses.

--- What lesson has the pandemic taught the tourism sector?

--- The first lesson is that one must be prepared for possible unforeseen events. And second, that from the crisis, an opportunity must be seized, and that will only be achieved with an attitude of innovation and progress in accordance with the lines indicated by the European Union, and with a will for effort and overcoming. What is certain is that the pandemic does not allow us to stay as we were and that we must rethink and reinvent ourselves. In the case of companies, once this is clear, they must seek the necessary aid and make an effort. Society must be less conservative and more progressive, in the good sense of the word, to improve people's well-being.

--- How can this situation be turned around, a Barcelona without foreign tourists?

--- First of all, we need to reflect. That is what we have organized Future of Tourism World Summit for, we will see what conclusions we draw. In any case, personally, I believe that the first thing Barcelona has to do is not put obstacles to the recovery of tourism with positions such as the opposition to the expansion of El Prat Airport; although I agree that everything possible must be done to preserve the environment. But the future of the city and of Catalonia as a whole cannot be condemned for issues that, in my opinion, are not sufficient. And, on the other hand, Barcelona has to align itself with progress and modernity to improve people's well-being through digitalization, fostering sustainability and promoting training in digital skills, language proficiency... all in line with the guidelines of the European recovery plan and the Next Generation EU funds. At the same level of importance there are two other aspects that must be promoted: internationalization and entrepreneurship.

--- The expansion of El Prat is, in your opinion, essential.

--- Absolutely. Anyone who does not think so is condemning the future of Barcelona and Catalonia. And one of the most important engines of Spain.

--- Do you take it for granted that the project cannot be recovered?

--- I am optimistic. There will always be some opportunity. It is wise to rectify. Those who reject the project must realize that what they are doing is harming people.

"Anyone who does not consider the expansion of El Prat essential is condemning the future of Barcelona and Catalonia"

--- Barcelona has to reflect as a leading city and get its act together. It has to make an effort to overcome and progress. It has to foster public-private collaboration, take modernization measures, introduce progress incentives and, above all, not put obstacles to innovation and prosperity, because that implies limiting people's progress.

--- Barcelona's leadership is being questioned...

--- Barcelona cannot lose its leadership. It had it and has to recover it, because it has competitive advantages to achieve it. As does Spain. But, in addition, steps must be taken to be more attractive, because tourism will continue to grow, people need to travel. The transformation that needs to be done now is to reflect on what has been done, see how future lines of action should be approached and innovate so that people are more satisfied. Thus, we will enter a virtuous circle and there will be more and more visitors, which is significant.

--- So, you don't share the idea that Barcelona has too many visitors and lacks quality tourism?

--- I share the idea that quality tourism must be promoted, seeking the traveler who brings more added value. But I do not deny the number of visitors at all, on the contrary, I applaud the tourist attraction that Barcelona has achieved to attract many tourists. The city has a very important leadership among the main cities in the world and should not, cannot, lose it.

--- In the debates raised within the framework of Future of Tourism World Summit it has been evidenced that one of the future aspects for tourism, which could also be applied to Barcelona, is destandardization and the diversification of tourist areas throughout the territory. Do you subscribe to this approach?

--- Destandardize, of course. Expand the territory, yes, but I wonder why disseminate tourism through tourist areas. Barcelona has to continue to be a city to attract tourism and the rest of the areas must get their act together to also attract visitors, but not to the detriment of the city. Because, in the end, the main thing is that more tourism comes.

"I share the idea of promoting quality tourism, but not that of reducing the number of visitors"

--- I would not interpret it that way. What I would say is that there is a strong presence of countries from other continents. And that shows us that we have to work on attracting visitors from those countries, which are more distant destinations. With some, like those from Latin America, we have an advantage, but with others we will have to use the weapons of tourism marketing to conquer Asia, the United States... where, in addition, there is high purchasing power; the tourism that interests us. Europe, without leaving it aside, is a path we have already traveled and it already works, these are more mature markets.

--- The Bank of Spain has just lowered its growth forecasts... What consequences could this have for the recovery of tourism?

--- It not only affects tourism, but the economy as a whole. And it stems from doubts about the progression of the recovery that had already begun. There are some fears hovering over the economy: inflation levels, with issues such as the rise in electricity prices; threats of a labor reform that could truncate economic recovery and that the Government should carefully consider; and the lack of supply of components that puts the continuity of some companies at risk. We must try to tackle all these problems in the best possible way without jeopardizing economic recovery.

"Labor reform can truncate economic recovery"

--- No, tourism will recover next year. But things must be done well and all control measures must be taken on the aspects we mentioned earlier (inflation, labor reform, component supply…). Tourism will not only recover, it will accelerate: people need to do tourism because traveling, resting, disconnecting... provides breadth of vision.

--- Regarding European funds, what would you recommend to Spanish companies in the tourism sector?

--- Companies in the sector must assume that the time has come to transform, to plan for the future, that they have to strive to guarantee their viability. There are many options, business alliances and cooperations are one of them. But the basic thing is that SMEs analyze what the big players in the sector have done to grow while maintaining solvency and take them as a reference.

--- In addition to European funds, would you be in favor of promoting public aid to the sector to accompany it in its transformation?

--- We are at a crucial moment for the sector and all aid is necessary, not just convenient. But the main thing is that tourism companies reflect, have a will to progress and put it into practice.

--- What is your message for the administrations?

--- That they make a good allocation of European funds and that they remember that institutions like the Cámara de España, by their very nature, are helping companies so that the entire process of accessing the funds is done correctly. As an institution, we also have the necessary capillarity to reach the entire business fabric, through the 85 chambers that exist in Spain and which are public law corporations of general interest. We work with administrations at all levels and with local entities so that the funds reach those who are willing to make an effort to surpass themselves. Another reason why we can contribute, and a lot, is because we have been managing European funds for 20 years and, therefore, we know how to do it.