El Valle del Ambroz (Extremadura), winner of the EDEN Awards

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, through the Ministry of Tourism, has chosen the Region of Ambroz Valley, in Extremadura, as the winning destination of the EDEN Awards, European Destinations of Excellence (European Destinations of Excellence) .

These awards seek to attract attention to those emerging destinations whose development is consistent with the principles of social, cultural and environmental sustainability.

In this ninth edition, the European Commission, together with the corresponding national tourism institutions, has decided to value "health and wellness tourism". Candidate destinations have presented projects that offer authentic tourist experiences and develop sustainable social, cultural and environmental management with this theme as the main base.

After analyzing the applications received, the Ministry of Tourism has determined that the winning destination is "Valle del Ambroz, destination of Health and Welfare", formed by the municipalities of Extremadura, Abadía, Aldeanueva del Camino, Baños de Montemayor, Casas del Monte , La Garganta, Choker, Hervás and Segura de Toro.

Valle del Ambroz will receive the EDEN award at a ceremony to be held in Madrid in Fitur. Subsequently, the Extremaduran destination will participate in the European Awards Ceremony to be organized by the European Commission in Brussels in April 2020.



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The profitability of the tourism sector increases in the first ten months of the year


Spain received more than 74.7 million international tourists during the first ten months of the year, 1.1% more than in the same period of 2018, while spending increased 2.9% to 82,197 million euros. These are the main data of the surveys on Tourist Movements in Frontier (FRONTUR) and Tourism Expenditure (EGATUR) prepared by the National Statistics Institute.

During the month of October, 7.6 million tourists visited our country, which represents a decrease of 0.3% compared to October 2018. Its expenditure was 8,367 million euros, 2.5% more. The average daily expenditure stood at 161 euros (+ 6.5%).

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, considers these data positive to endorse the Government's commitment to increase profitability through the diversification of issuing markets and the enhancement of Spain's wide tourism offer. “It is very noteworthy that tourism spending increases more than double the flow of visitors. Once again the sector continues to show its strength despite the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook and the uncertainties of the international market. ”

Arrival of tourists

In the accumulated year, the main emitting markets were the United Kingdom, with more than 16.4 million international tourists, 1.9% less than the previous year; Germany, with 10.1 million (-1.9%), and France, with more than 10 million tourists, (-2.3%). Among the other countries of residence, the growth experienced by the United States (+ 12.7%), Russia (+ 8.4%) and Portugal (+ 7.1%) should be noted.

By national destinations, Catalonia was the community that received the most tourists, more than 17.3 million, which represents an increase of 0.7%. It was followed by the Balearic Islands (with almost 13.4 million and a decrease of 0.8%) and Andalucía (with more than 10.9 million, 3.6% more). It also highlights the growth of Madrid, which increases 7.2% the number of tourists received (almost 6.5 million). On the contrary, the Canary Islands fell 4.8% due to the effect of the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, which coincided with the high season on the islands.

Increase in spending

From January to October, the main destination autonomous communities with the highest total expenditure were Catalonia (with € 19,282 M and an increase of 4.8%), Balearic Islands (with € 14,546 M, 1.1% more than in the same period of 2018), and the Canary Islands (with € 13,892 M, a decrease of 0.7%).

As for the issuing countries, the United Kingdom has the highest accumulated expenditure so far this year with € 16,379 M (+ 1.0%). It is followed by Germany, with € 10,525 million (-2.3%) and France, with € 6,895 million (+ 1.8%).



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The Government authorizes a grant of € 15 million to the Canary Islands to mitigate the effects of the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook


The Council of Ministers today authorized the granting of a grant of 15 million euros to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands to finance actions that contribute to alleviate the effects of the insolvency of the Thomas Cook business group in the tourism sector of the archipelago.

The Government thus complies with the provision contained in Royal Decree Law 12/2019, of October 11, which takes urgent measures to mitigate the effects of the opening of insolvency proceedings of the Thomas Cook business group.

The aid will be implemented through the formalization of an agreement between the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, through the SETUR, and the Government of the Canary Islands, and complement other approved measures, such as the reduction of the AENA passenger fare to reinforce connectivity or the ICO line to provide liquidity to companies and freelancers in the Canary tourism sector.



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Tourism forecasts for the year 2019

The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver and the Undersecretary, Fernando Valdes, has presented the tourism forecasts for the end of 2019.



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Reyes Maroto announces a National and Comprehensive Plan to Combat Counterfeiting

Acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, announced today at the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Office of Intellectual Property of the European Union (EUIPO), based in Alicante, that “as soon as Government is formed, we will present a National and Comprehensive Plan to Combat Counterfeiting ”.

The minister explained that the Plan has been prepared by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) and intends to address the issue through different lines of action grouped into four axes: regulation, coordination, analysis and training, and awareness. He also announced that in the next few days the SPTO will launch an advertising campaign whose objective will be to raise public awareness about the danger of buying counterfeit products.

In his speech, Reyes Maroto reaffirmed the commitment of the Executive in the fight against counterfeiting, and listed the actions carried out in this area, such as the work carried out by the Intersectoral Commission to act against the infringing activities of Industrial Property Rights – which He had not met for several years – the creation of the Bureau of Intrusism and the incorporation into the Spanish legal system of the Directive on trademarks.

Regarding the work of the SPTO, he mentioned the Collaboration Agreement with EUIPO, which allows the use of computer tools, promotional activities, convergence of EU practices and projects in third countries, and their relevant participation in meetings, programs and projects developed by EUIPO in the field of European cooperation. He also said that the collaboration with EUIPO "is being very fruitful for Spain, as it helps us establish symbiosis that improve both the functioning of the national public administration and the procedures and tasks of the European agency." He added that “EUIPO is a success story in itself, but also of the European Union, by showing how a European policy can be developed in a close and useful way to its recipients, users, and living perfectly and enriching the systems national industrial property ”.

Spain is constantly among the ten countries with the highest number of applications to the European brand and design systems that are managed in the EUIPO. In 2018 they amounted to 10,377 in the case of European brands and 3,649 in the case of community designs.

The commemorative event took place at the EUIPO headquarters in Alicante, and was attended, among other personalities, by the executive director, Christian Archambeau, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jorma Hanski.



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Spain diversifies its outbound tourism markets and increases profitability


The quarterly executive files on eighteen international tourist issuing markets published today by Turespaña confirm the transition to a higher quality model, thanks to the growing diversification of home markets.

The first nine months of 2019 show growth, both in the flow of tourists (+ 1.3%) and in spending (+ 3%), while hotel overnight stays are maintained. Especially noteworthy is the considerable growth of distant countries such as the United States, one of the best performing markets in the issuance of international visitors, with an increase to September of 14.2% in arrivals and close to 13% in spending. Asian markets also show great dynamism, with an increase in hotel overnight stays up to September of 22.4% in the Chinese market and 26.3% in the Japanese market.

For the Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, “these data are very positive because the diversification of issuing markets – and especially to attracting distant markets – favors the increase in profitability of the sector and helps to achieve more tourism seasonally adjusted, sustainable, profitable and competitive. They also show the effectiveness of the measures adopted these months within the framework of the general guidelines of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy of Spain 2030 approved in January ”.

With respect to the main emitting countries – United Kingdom and Germany – they show different behaviors. The British market shows stability as the decline in tourists has moderated, although spending has increased by 1.2%. As for Germany, it presents a downward corrective trend, returning to values ​​more in line with the historical series. Both markets show the influence of a situation characterized by uncertainties in the international context such as Brexit, the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook or the economic slowdown.

The complete files can be consulted here: https://www.tourspain.es/es-es/ConocimientoTuristico/paginas/FichasEjecutivas.aspx



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Social Security affiliates in tourism grew 3% in October


Social Security affiliates linked to tourism activities grew 3% year-on-year in October, reaching a total of 2,434,081 members, according to the data included in the Tourism Employment Report prepared by Turespaña, under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, and disseminated today. It is the record figure in the historical series of a month of October.

Employment in tourism activities has grown in the last year in 70,646 workers in high labor, representing 12.7% of the total affiliates in the national economy.

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, positively values ​​these data that “demonstrate the strength of the Spanish tourism sector that maintains a good pace in job creation beyond the summer period despite the impact of Thomas Cook's bankruptcy He has noticed in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands ”.

To minimize this impact, the Government approved a crash plan that, among other measures, includes a 500 million financing line for tourism projects that will be channeled through the State Financial Fund for Tourism Competitiveness (FOCIT), another line of ICO credit of up to 200 million for affected companies, the extension of Social Security bonuses in discontinuous fixed contracts and grants of 15 and 8 million, respectively, for the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. In addition, AENA approved a reduction of the passenger fare, and ENAIRE of the route fare in order to stimulate airlines to strengthen connectivity, especially in the island territories.

Affiliation by sectors and communities

Of the 70,646 high occupations in October, 39,832 correspond to hospitality. The section "other activities" rose by 29,464 members and travel agencies had an increase of 1,350 workers. The report highlights the positive performance of this branch of activity since December 2014, as it had reduced employment figures continuously in the previous six years (2008-2014).

In absolute figures, employment in the hotel and travel agencies / tour operators as a whole experienced its greatest increase in Andalusia. At the other extreme, the biggest declines took place in the Balearic and Canary Islands. In relative terms, the year-on-year increases of Ceuta and Melilla (6.5%) and Murcia (4.8%) stand out.

The full report can be found here: https://www.tourspain.es/es-es/ConocimientoTuristico/AfiliacionSS/nota-afiliaci%C3%B3n-seguridad-social-octubre-2019.pdf



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The quality of tourism employment improves in the third quarter of the year


According to the data corresponding to the Survey of Active Population released today by Turespaña, under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, in the third quarter of the year the figure of 2,832,621 employed linked to tourism activities was reached, which represents 73,291 employees more than in the same period of the previous year and an interannual growth of 2.7%.

Those employed in the tourism sector accounted for 14.3% of the total employment of the Spanish economy, while the unemployment rate stood at 10.7%. In addition, in the third quarter of 2019 the number of employees in tourism grew 4.5% year-on-year to 2,361,266, contributing 83.4% of the total.

Especially in this quarter, indefinite hiring stands out, since employees with this type of contract increased by 8.2% – 64% of total contracts – while employees who work with a temporary contract decreased (-1.4 %).

For the Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, "these positive data show the improvement in the quality of employment and working conditions and consolidate the growing trend in the number of employees with an indefinite contract to the detriment of other more precarious formulas."

In relation to the type of working day, full-time employees increased by 5.9% and already represent 77.2% of the total, compared to employees with part-time work, which grew by only 0.1%.

By autonomous communities

The Autonomous Communities with the highest number of tourist flows (Catalonia, Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community) are, in turn, the ones that generate the busiest in the sector, joining together in the fourth quarter of the year 75 , 2% of the total employed in the sector.

They stand out for the growth in the number of employed in tourism La Rioja (21.7%), Ceuta and Melilla (16.3%), Extremadura (12%) and Cantabria (11.2%), while Murcia, Balearic Islands and Navarra were the communities where the most employed decreased compared to the same quarter of the previous year.



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Reyes Maroto proposes the creation of a General Directorate of Tourism in the European Commission



Acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto met today with the Croatian Minister of Tourism, Gari Cappelli, who has proposed to ask the Commission to change the denomination of the Transport portfolio by choosing “Transport and Tourism ”and a General Directorate of Tourism is created within the European Commission.

Croatia will preside over the Council of the European Union from January 1, 2020, so Maroto has proposed to Cappelli to bet firmly on introducing tourism between the priorities of the next semester, and in this regard has raised the possibility of creating a general management that deals with tourism in a transversal way and establishes a common strategy, trying to reinforce the growth of a sector that represents 10.3% of the GDP of the EU and 11.7% of employment.

In the bilateral meeting -which has taken place in the Turespaña area within the London World Travel Market London Fair-, the Spanish minister has transferred to her Croatian counterpart the need to carry out an evaluation of the operation and application of the Directive 2015 / 2302 on Combined Travel and Related Services, especially after the bankruptcy of global tour operator Thomas Cook.

They have also addressed the possibility of regulating platforms and the digital economy in the tourism sector at European level. Cappelli has expressed his intention to launch an initiative in this regard, which will be supported by Spain.

Finally, they have discussed the possibility of the Commission establishing its own budget line -aligned with the resolution recently approved by the full European Parliament- to minimize the consequences of possible crisis situations, especially in relation to the maintenance of employment in the sector.



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The Secretary of State for Tourism meets with her British counterpart



The Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, met Monday in London with Helen Whately, deputy secretary of State for Art, Heritage and Tourism of the British Government, to discuss issues of common interest in the tourism sector such as the effect of Brexit.

In this sense, Isabel Oliver, who is in the World Travel Market, has transferred to her counterpart the actions carried out by the Spanish Government to continue welcoming British tourists with the same hospitality and professionalism.

Sustainability has been another point of the meeting. Spain hosts the 2019 United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP25), while the United Kingdom will do the same with COP26, so both countries agree on the importance of tourism sustainability, especially in the development of SDG 12 (Responsible production and consumption).

Finally, at the meeting, which has served to strengthen and strengthen relations between the two governments, it has also been about responsible tourism following the agreement signed with the Secretary of State for Social Services for the promotion of safe, sustainable, healthy and healthy leisure Quality in the tourism sector. The objective of this agreement is to promote a nightlife without alcohol or psychoactive substances to avoid violent behavior.



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