Benidorm participates in Industry Digital Talk as a DTI reference and its post-Covid proposals

The mayor of Benidorm has participated this morning in the Industry Digital Talk meeting about Tourism that has organized IFEMA, through FITUR, moderated by its director, María Valcarce, and with more than 1,200 registered professionals.

These discussion forums explore the different strategies that have necessarily been carried out as a result of COVID-19 and make known the sector's forecasts, framed within the premise of serving as a nucleus of inspiration, meeting and networking for the sector, taking as axes the digitization and the transformation that now Tourism demands and new answers facing the new reality.

In his speech, Toni Pérez has highlighted the role of technology in the initiatives undertaken by Benidorm City Council for the governance of the tourist destination city in this situation with the effects of a health crisis that has passed into social and economic, notably affecting to Tourism industry.

The mayor of Benidorm has claimed “the need to generate confidence in the destination”, in absolute accordance with the approaches of all the participants.

Under the axes of the genesis of trust and best governance practices, to questions from the moderator, Toni Pérez has given as examples the municipal initiatives for the management of the integral water cycle that with the collaboration of Dinapsis Lab, Hidraqua, and important results have been achieved in the "reduction of consumption, implementation of an Emergency plan and, at the moment, City Sentinel tool for the detection of covid in sewage."

The mayor has also pointed out "the joint commitment of the entire sector for protocols that minimize the possible impact" in tourist establishments that has led the City Council and VisitBenidorm to propose, in front of audits, "a responsible statement with a check list by subsector so that UNE standards can be better understood and applied ”. Pérez stressed that "this is a commitment by the entire sector to comply with protocols and enhance the safe image of the destination."

And in that chapter of safety seals the mayor, in the management of public spaces, has framed the Comprehensive Plan for Beaches, materialized through Benidorm Beach Safety proposal “which has the first Contingency Plan in Spain designed for beaches, in addition of an emergency Plan and the Blue Banners badges ”.

Finally, Toni Pérez has shown his confidence that Fitur 2021 "is the ideal place to check the trends in the sector and check on site, as the first fair after this pandemic, what is the new reality of tourism."

In this meeting, the speakers have highlighted the tremendous impact of the episode on the sectors that gravitate around tourism activity, the lessons that have been obtained from confinement and digitization processes, as well as the expectations aroused by this new reality that little by little little is progressing. All of the participants have agreed on the need for a treatment or a vaccine, and that the resilience of the sector is not homogeneous, and there are sectors, such as aviation, that will take time to recover.

Enrique Martínez Marín, president of Segittur, has highlighted in his speeches the differences between the approaches, which are public policies, and the tools, which are applications of technology. Martínez encouraged putting into context approaches and technologies based on the realities of the destinations. The key, he pointed out, is to detect the problems and apply management, professionalism, the existing technical standard and the technology for their resolution; and gave Benidorm and its action on the beaches as an outstanding example.

Oscar López, president of Paradores, has explained the operation of Parador Hotels to reactivate itself and the conditions in which it has been done, betting on a progressive reactivation of the market, while indicating that ours is an industry designed to serve 84 million of tourists, indicating that we need international tourism. Juan Cierco, corporate director of Iberia, pointed out the difficulties of the airlines - without planes, there is no tourism - and the very slow exit from the current slump that is looming. Cierco asked to lower airport charges and avoid them to tourists, claiming to be optimistic in the short term and realistic in the medium and long term.

Martínez Aguilar, CEO of Making Science, and Jon Recacoechea, Industry Manager Travel of Google, pointed out the advance in digitization that this process has brought about and the opportunities it offers, while insisting that users are now more expert and much more demanding , proliferating searches for immediacy this summer. Javier Blanquer, director of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Ifema, pointed out the boost to digital strategy that FITUR gives with a multitude of solutions in the digital context, but without forgetting the contact among professionals.

And the director of Fitur, María Valcarce, referred to that contact, summoning everyone to what will be the first important appointment of Tourism in 2021 where this new reality applicable to tourism will be evident.