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This morning, the second Working Day organised by APHA was held at the EUIPO with a full house and very interesting presentations.
The event brought together a large number of members, but also an important representation of the associative sphere and civil society. Among others, Roberto Martínez, director of Alicante por el Turismo de Cruceros; Javier Galdeano, president of ALROA; Gabriela Córdoba, president of ARA; Cristina Arroyo, of AAPET; Francisco Sánchez, president of Radio Teletaxi Alicante; Francisco Fresno, president of the Costa Blanca Sports Tourism Association; Vicente Armengol, president of the Alicante Merchants' Collective; Paulina Schönborn, president of Paulina Schönborn, president of Paulina Schönborn and Paulina Schönborn, president of Paulina Schönborn; Vicente Armengol, president of the Collective of Traders for Alicante; Paulina Schönborn, president of the Association of Traders of PAU5; Mª Carmen Martí, president of the Association of Traders and Neighbours of Tabarca Island and representatives of APEHA and the Association of Tourist Guides. Also Mónica Bautista, commercial director of the Port Authority of Alicante; Ana Poquet, councillor of tourism of Alicante; Lidia López, councillor of commerce and hotel and catering of Alicante; Carmen Robledillo, Óscar Castillo and Juan Utrera, councillors of Vox of the city council of Alicante; Celia Meseguer, technician of the Municipal Tourism Board of Alicante; or Mario Villar and Cristina Martínez, deputies of the Valencian Parliament.
The event was opened by Agustín Grau, Director of Institutional Relations of the EUIPO, who welcomed the participants to the Euroagency's facilities, and Luis Castillo, who expressed his satisfaction with the reception of the conference and emphasised APHA's role in defending the interests of tourism in Alicante.
Carlos Baño, President of the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, then answered the question "What are Chambers for? He highlighted the economic sustainability that the chamber has achieved thanks to the voluntary contributions of companies and the public programmes that they develop. Among the organisation's priority lines of action, Baño highlighted the promotion of employability through training and employment plans. More than 14,000 students have already passed through its classrooms. Thanks to the new centre in Panoramis, higher university, vocational and business training will be offered. The tourism sector is one of the priorities for the institution. He also reviewed the Alicante Gastronómica Solidaria initiative for its social commitment. Already 870,000 menus have been prepared and made available to people without resources. He announced that new agreements will be announced at FITUR to reinforce its certification services for companies.
Laura Navarro, director of Alicante Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, has offered a balance of 2023, a year in which a record 15.7 million passengers have been reached. Passenger growth at the Alicante aerodrome was 4.65% compared to 2022, compared to 2.91% for AENA as a whole. This increase has been possible thanks to the extraordinary performance of the months outside the high season, which confirms the progress made in the deseasonalisation of tourism. In terms of connectivity, Alicante was the airport with the highest number of British passengers in the entire network. Ryanair is the main airline at the airport, with 40% of the traffic. Easyjet is going to open a base next summer. In terms of sustainability, the airport plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. Improving energy efficiency is another of the areas for improvement. As a result of this effort, it has received recognition as the best European airport in its category and also as an accessible airport by CERMI. With regard to the planned increase in airport taxes, he pointed out that these taxes are what allow the airport to be financed and cover the cost of the services it offers. The planned increase of 4% represents nothing more than an update of prices that have not been raised since 2019.
Next, José Alberto Cortés, managing director of the MARQ, gave a talk entitled "The MARQ, much more than a museum", in which he highlighted the public-private collaboration in cultural management through the MARQ CV Foundation. He highlighted the presence of tourism in the profile of visitors to the museum, with a large international public, mostly British, cruise passengers and also many people from the Valencian Community itself. He also referred to the commitment to quality and recalled that the MARQ was the first museum to obtain the Q for tourist quality. It also has the S for sustainability from the ICTE and is committed to universal accessibility.
Mónica Espinosa, academic coordinator of external internships at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Alicante, focused her speech on explaining the procedure for hosting students on the internship programme, a very attractive opportunity both for the students and for the companies that receive them. These internships allow talent to be connected with business needs.
Jorge Rodríguez, CEO of ESATUR, discussed the "Services and experiences at the Castillo de Santa Bárbara". In 2023, 800,000 visitors have visited the fortress and enjoyed the numerous activities on offer. It is the most visited monument in the Valencia Region. With a view to 2024, the Hospital Hall will be opened, its opening hours will be adapted to facilitate the visit of cruise passengers and there will also be free daily guided tours in Spanish and English. All in all, activities, concerts, experiences and recreations are scheduled throughout the year. It has also offered the space for holding events.
Daniel Elman, vice-president of APHA, accompanied by Astrid, Lucía, Mireia and Cristina, students of the UA Degree in Tourism, spoke about "FITUR, the international tourism trade fair. You have to be there! The presence at FITUR is essential not only to publicise destinations, but also to publicise trends. The students were grateful for the collaboration of APHA in their training thanks to the internships in hotels and tourist flats.
Alejando Trincado, CEO of Padeluxe, presented PADELUXE, PADEL EXPERIENCE, "A new way to enjoy padel". He presented the facilities and the technological advances incorporated to offer an innovative and differentiated experience. It has also focused on the offer of closed tourist packs that combine accommodation, paddle, experiences or gastronomy.
José Palomares, head of training at ESATUR, explained its Vocational Training Plan in the tourism sector, which is being developed thanks to Labora and the SEPE. This national plan offers more than 40 online courses, open to 1,900 workers in the sector, covering the main needs of tourism today.
Tatiana Alemán, senior consultant at Ilunion Accessibility, shared the presentation "Universal Accessibility, requirements and opportunities for tourism", in which she explained the concept of universal accessibility. One in 10 Spaniards has a recognised disability and one in 3 has accessibility requirements. Accessibility goes beyond the field of disability and forms part of tourism intelligence. The European accessibility directive, transposed in Spain in 2022, specifies the obligations for products and services, both in the physical and digital space. From June 2025, its implementation will be mandatory, both in the public and private sectors, and will lead tourism to a necessary adaptation. The aim is to achieve a 360º accessibility approach. From the design stage, it must be foreseen that products and services will be enjoyed by all types of customers.
Luis Castillo then took the floor to thank the speakers for their efforts to be concise. He congratulated APHA on its trajectory and its constant growth in members and services and announced that FITUR will have a strong APHA presence, which will offer some very interesting surprises.
The work day was brought to a close by Cristina Moreno, regional secretary for tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana, who highlighted the strength of tourism, which is a fundamental pillar of the Valencian economy. She recalled that the hotel occupancy rate in the Valencia Region in 2023 was 74% and exceeded the 72.7% of the previous year. He offered the sector the training courses offered by the CDT network and highlighted the value of public-private initiatives to improve the sustainability and projection of tourism, an advance that should offer opportunities to both large operators and small tourism businesses.
At the end, coffee was served, which facilitated the exchange of opinions and business and professional relations.
