The government will launch in March a second call for 720 million euros for the tourism sector with European funds “Next Generation”. This was announced yesterday in his speech at a conference on tourism sustainability in the framework of the international tourism fair (Fitur) in Madrid. This initiative, he added, is “the clearest confirmation that the implementation of European funds is following a marked course in developing the transformation of the tourism sector.”
In turn, Sánchez also said that within the tourism sustainability program for 2022, “the national plan for gastronomic tourism with a budget of 65 million euros” will be launched. This is an initiative that was justified by the attraction of both traditional and avant-garde Spanish cuisine.
The Chief Executive defended the Government’s strategy with the sector. In addition to assuring that it is necessary to take advantage of European funds to make a “leap in quality”, he recalled that the 3.4 billion planned for the activity in the recovery plan, which, he explained, will have an impact of 6,700 million in GDP, is “twice the budgeted investment for the tourism sector between 2012 and 2017.” Similarly, he stressed that the 2022 budget allocates 1,817 million euros to investments in the sector, 35% more than the previous year.
The President, who spoke at the Turespaña stand in Fitur, emphasized that thanks to the measures taken by the Executive and the private sector, “employment has not been destroyed” with the health crisis. And he recalled that 95% of workers who benefited from ERTOs are reinstated in their jobs.
He insisted that in addition to the importance of these measures, the high percentage of vaccination of the population has been a key element. To this must be added European funds, a solution which, unlike the financial crisis, means having resources “to make the tourism sector even better than it was before the pandemic”.
Fitur success
Sánchez pointed out that between January and November there were more than 28 million tourists and that the figures for spending per visitor and duration are higher than two years ago. After placing the celebration of Fitur 2022 in an economic recovery that he considered obvious, the head of the Executive highlighted the importance of European funds to increase the competitiveness of the Spanish economy and in particular the tourism sector.
The fair is being a good thermometer on the sector. The first data on attendance at Fitur, which has been held at Ifema since last Tuesday, confirm this, as it exceeds all expectations initially expected. In just its first two days, Fitur recorded the attendance of 60,000 professionals, which represents the estimated total for its three professional days.