For the 19th consecutive year, the ACAVe Forum was held in Barcelona at the Palau Casades Auditorium of the Barcelona Bar Association on Thursday, September 19.
As always, Beroni made sure to be there, and our CEO, Josep Bellés, had the opportunity to exchange views with leading professionals in the tourism and travel agency sectors.
At this year's event, professionals and companies from the tourism sector gathered to discuss "Infrastructure and Economic Relations for the Advancement of Tourism." The event was hosted and moderated by journalist and presenter Sílvia Cóppulo.
The event began at 9:30 a.m. with an opening address and welcome to the forum by Martí Sarrate, President of ACAVe.
Next, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, María Reyes Maroto Illera, officially opened the event. The Minister highlighted the challenges facing the United Kingdom regarding Brexit, urging the Spanish tourism sector to prepare to address them, given that the United Kingdom is Spain’s primary tourism market.
Once Reyes Maroto had finished her remarks, the first session of the forum began. Jaime García-Legaz, a geopolitical analyst, gave a presentation on the topic “The World’s Major Economies in the Spanish Tourism Market.” Immediately following this, to discuss the topic, the forum welcomed María Carmen Oñate Muñoz, Consul General of Mexico; Saul Mercado, Consul for Political, Administrative, and Security Affairs of the United States; and Ligia Maria Scherer, Consul General of Brazil. The three speakers discussed the state of the tourism sector in their respective countries and how they perceive Spain’s tourism offerings from their perspectives.
After this first discussion, mid-morning, there was a coffee break in the Patio de Columnas, where attendees were able to relax for a while and continue chatting with the other professionals.
Next, the second session of the day began with another panel discussion, this time titled “Infrastructure for the Growth of the Tourism Industry,” featuring Isaías Táboas Suárez, president of RENFE; Manuel Arana Burgos, Deputy Director of Infrastructure at Puertos del Estado and President of the Technical Association of Ports and Coasts of Spain; and Javier Marín San Andrés, General Director of AENA Airports. All three speakers agreed that Spain has a high standard of transportation infrastructure.
With this second session concluded, journalist Pepa Bueno and former Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena kicked off the day’s third session with a relaxed interview in which they discussed “The Economic and Social Reality in Tourist Cities.” As Carmena explained, tourism in the Spanish capital has grown “rapidly” over the past four years, and more than 50% of tourists were foreign visitors in 2018, a period during which Madrid received some 10 million visitors.
Before the closing ceremony, Martí Sarrate, president of ACAVe, shared with attendees the key takeaways from this year’s event, highlighting the issue of safety in Barcelona. Although this issue has not yet affected tourism, it is important that it does not persist so as not to impact the industry in the future. Sarrate also noted the positive role that travel agencies have played in recent years by adapting their business models to embrace innovation.
Finally, after the conclusions were presented, ECTAA Secretary General Michael de Blust presided over the closing ceremony.
We at Beroni would like to congratulate ACAVe on another spectacular event and thank them sincerely for an experience that, as always, was well worth it. We look forward to returning next year.
If you'd like, you can watch the full video of the event here. To see the photos, check out the Facebook post.
