The tourism sector faces the end of 2024 with optimism, despite the concern regarding the recent entry into force of the new traveler registry. The Spanish Tourism Board describes as “nonsense” the changes demanded by the Government from the different operators when it comes to communicating and collecting customer data and warns that there are “risks” not only for the competitiveness of the sector but also for the safety of the travelers themselves. Even so, the business association highlights the strength of a sector of activity that is key to the Spanish economy and that continues to break record after record. In this sense, the Tourism Board foresees reach 95 million international visitors by the end of 2024which would mean an unprecedented record, and exceed 200,000 million euros in turnover.
According to the calculations of the lobby tourism, Spain could end the year having received the visit of 11.7% more travelers than in 2023, with nearly 10 million more foreign tourists. The president of the Tourism Board, Juan Molas, that behind this volume of travelers there is an improvement not only quantitative but also qualitative, with increasingly longer seasons that make clear the progress towards the deseasonalization of the activity. “We are opening the seasons, especially from behind, having experienced a month of September even better than June and some months of October and November with excellent performance,” he highlighted.
This increase in the arrival of international tourists translates into good revenue prospects for businessmen. The Tourism Board estimates that this activity will contribute to increasing the national GDP at the end of the year with a “historical” contribution of more than 13%. “We will most likely close the year with some very good figures,” confirmed the president of the business association, who also highlights the creation of 80,000 jobs associated with tourism in the last year.
If the current trend is confirmed, the lobby wait overcome the barrier of 3 million members in tourism-related activities in 2025, despite noting difficulties in finding qualified professionals and attracting younger generations. “One of the big problems is finding, especially at certain times of the year, a qualified workforce,” acknowledged the president of the Tourism Board, who stressed that this is a problem shared by the different activities linked to tourism. from hospitality to transportation.
However, business owners hope that the growth rate in tourist arrivals will continue in 2025a year for which they detect “good feelings” especially due to the push of the traditional European source markets (United Kingdom, France and Germany), but also due to the “hopeful” growth of the Asian and North American markets. “This ownership of the international issuer, together with the increase in slots that airline companies are securing, allows us to predict, as long as no setbacks arise, that 2025 could be a year similar to 2024 for tourism,” predicted Molas, who has expressed concern about the impact that a possible escalation of the war in Ukraine could have.
The dynamism of the arrival of international tourists contrasts with a certain decline in national demand, which Molas has described as a “small cloud”but which has downplayed its importance, pointing to good prospects for the Constitution bridge. “We Spaniards had an end of 2022 and 2023 and 2024 where it was noted that there were significant savings motivated by confinement and the pandemic,” he explained, recognizing that the pace of has slowed down in recent months and that the increases in prices They may have taken their toll. “We must analyze it and look for the consequences to face 2025 with certainty that the national market continues to be a cornerstone in the sector,” added the president of the Board.
The new traveler registry
However, the most immediate concern of the tourism sector focuses on the entry into force of a new traveler registry, with a new electronic platform to communicate customer data to the Ministry of the Interior for security reasons. The sector denounces that the system is not prepared, as evidenced by the fall this Monday in its premiere, and sees it as disproportionate to have to collect and store “between 42 and 65 data” for three years customers’ personal information when making reservations, including information such as postal address or credit card number.
The general secretary of the Tourism Board, Carlos Abella, has explained the difficulties that this represents for the sector, giving examples such as the impossibility of collecting all the data required when it comes to reservations for large groups in which the names of attendees until the date approaches, such as a conference or other business event.
The Ministry of the Interior denies that the entry into force of the new rule will place an additional burden on companies. “They say that no more data is requested, and why is it not included in the royal decree?” Abella denies, emphasizing that The Government’s “words” do not coincide with the content of the norm. In his opinion, the new registry represents not only a burden for companies but also violates the privacy of clients and reminds us of the lack of capacity of companies to verify the veracity of the data, as well as the limitations of small and medium-sized companies. companies to launch the registry.
“We are facing an unfortunate and incomprehensible government decree, and we have no other way than to reiterate our request for dialogue, communication and greater public-private collaboration,” Molas stressed. “It is absolutely absurd, it reduces our competitiveness and it is a clear example of not understanding where the tourism industry is going,” he emphasized, underlining that, in his opinion, the new traveler registry harms the privacy of clients, the operation of companies and the competitiveness of the sector.
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