Benidorm opens its XX Tourism Forum with a record of participation and with an eye on health security and the SDGs

Benidorm has opened its XX International Tourism Forum this morning with a record number of participants, 337 registered, and with an eye on the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and its link with tourism, and health security. The mayor, Toni Pérez, has indicated that in this edition they have worked to “focus the analysis that can offer us answers to the new challenges of a 'post Covid-19' stage that, thanks to research and science, today we see closer ”.

Toni Pérez made these statements during the opening ceremony of the Forum in which the presidents of the Generalitat Valenciana and the Alicante Provincial Council, Ximo Puig and Carlos Mazón, participated online; and in person, the rector of the University of Alicante (UA), Manuel Palomar, and the vice president of Hosbec, Fede Fuster, on behalf of the different administrations and entities that collaborate in the organization of this event by the hand of the Department of Studies Tourist 'Pedro Zaragoza'.

The mayor has pointed out that 25 years after its launch, the Forum continues to be “a space for analysis, debate and meeting in which Benidorm and the world of tourism reflect in a professional, scientific and business way about the present and the future ”and seek“ answers ”to the challenges of each moment and that, in 2020, are undoubtedly linked to the health crisis and its consequences on the tourism industry.

Toni Pérez has meant that "the appearance of the pandemic", which "has not put tourism in crisis but" humanity, has meant "a paradigm shift in the conception of tourism", introducing "new variables" that mark " the evolution and future of our main industry ”. "Our tourism model - he said - is there, waiting for the very near opportunity to resume its activity with all the intensity and preparing for it and the new times."

Likewise, it has advanced that in the future "tourism will rely on the resilience of destinations to last"; and he added that "now we are faced with the challenge and the responsibility of making our smart tourism capable of repositioning the pieces of the travel, mobility and tourism puzzle", which is "a good and an inalienable need".

For his part, the president of the Generalitat, has valued that in the previous economic crisis "tourism was the great savior of the Valencian economy, it fought discouragement and unemployment" and "now it can and should be like that." After stating that "the work that tourism companies did and especially in Benidorm" during that crisis "was essential" to overcome it, he assured that "we are not going to leave alone that productive fabric that feeds 15% of Valencians directly" and to another high percentage indirectly.

Puig has assured that "Benidorm and its businessmen are gifted students" in the subjects that will be addressed in this edition such as "sustainability, digitization or water management", therefore having as a destination "a lot of work in advance". Furthermore, he stated that "Benidorm is inspiration".

The president of the Alicante Provincial Council, for his part, stressed that, "despite the current moments" of difficulty, "the sector once again shows its ability to adapt"; a sector that "brings wealth, employment and economic activity." Mazón has stated that we must "continue to claim" the "tourist health corridors that are already fully available" and that they are "a priority" to be in an advantageous position when there is "the reopening" and reactivation of mobility.

In this regard, the Vice President of Hosbec has stressed that "data from the Marina Baixa support the opening of tourist corridors", since they are "even lower than ultra-peripheral territories such as the Canary Islands." For this reason, he added, “under a security system, we must begin to lift some restrictions on mobility with autonomous communities or areas of the country that are in the same or better situation of incidence”, since “without tourist recovery, there is no recovery of the economy ”.

The rector of the UA, in turn, pointed out that the objectives of this twentieth International Tourism Forum should be "to expand knowledge and above all to promote tourism policies and defend responsible tourism." In addition, it has opted for "promoting tourism as the driving force of economic growth, inclusive development and sustainability"

After the opening ceremony, the first discussion table was held, around SDG number 17 - 'Alliances to achieve objectives' - moderated by the director of the Provincial Tourism Board, José Francisco Mancebo, and in which have participated: Víctor Badorrey Fernández-Pacheco, director of Institutional Relations at Segittur; Gabriel Escarrer, President of Exceltur and Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá Hotels Internacional; and Leire Bilbao, manager of Visit Benidorm Foundation.

Sessions in ‘streaming’

The pandemic has led the organization to develop this Forum in mixed modality: face-to-face and online. This circumstance has favored reaching a record of registered participants, who can follow the development of the work sessions via ‘streaming’ on the website https://fitbenidorm.com/.