Charlas Location is a series of live interviews that we carry out in our Instagram account Every Friday at 17pm.
On Friday, May 22, we held An exclusive interview with Ramón de Isequilla: Tourism Consultant, Former Vice President Board Affiliate Members OMT, Destino Punta del Este, IEEM, Universidad de Montevideo. These were the main points that Ramón told us from Spain:
“In Spain, we also live off tourism.”
“Spain receives 82 million tourists per year, with an average stay of 10 days. Tourism represents 13% of GDP in Spain, and in Europe it's 10% of GDP, creating 3 million jobs. Tourism has created an entire system that they call "restoration" here, which is the bars. In Madrid, there are 40 bars, and they've been closed for two months. Bar owners are families, not multinationals or chains. It's the most important social fabric; 2 people make their living from it. Right now, in Spain, we have 300 million people out of work, of whom 8 million are directly unemployed. And 5 million are under a new system called ERTE (Temporary Employment Regulation File), which is a temporary employment regulation system where jobs are maintained but salaries, in the meantime, are paid by the state. Right now, there are 3 million people who pay taxes and 8 million who live off the state.”
“Tourism in Europe could start to return to normal next summer”
“We are talking about June 2021. And that is where all the problems come in, for example, with transfers. Let us suppose that tomorrow you can travel anywhere, the inconvenience of the mask, the security measures on a plane trip that the airports are already taking. AENA, which is the state entity that manages the airports, has already prepared all the protocols. But it will be more complicated to travel and everything will be more expensive. The plane will be more expensive because the security measures require money. It will not be possible to take all the seats, which for some companies would be unfeasible, as they explain. The large European companies will have a very large state subsidy, and perhaps they will even become nationalized. Today the EU has opened the door for that. It is not believed to be something permanent and definitive, but for a while.
“There is little talk about Uruguay, but there is good talk.”
“That is one of Uruguay’s problems, that since bad things don’t happen, the world news doesn’t mention it. There are no major catastrophes or scandals, so it isn’t mentioned. But when it is mentioned, it is mentioned well. Right now Uruguay is an example of how it has dealt with the pandemic. And not only the results, Uruguay had a good procedure and good results.”
“Uruguay's prestige is very high, Uruguay has to work on that. Not for this year or next, but for 2022 or 2023, taking advantage of the excellent image and perfecting the product. There is a reality, mass products are the ones that will suffer the most from all this, but Uruguay can offer an exclusive product. We have to work on that, on internal tourism and with neighboring countries.”
“We should carry out a campaign that shows Uruguay as a serious, predictable and safe country.”
“Uruguay has personal, legal and health security. All of these things are the most valuable. It has very high quality products, they must be perfected and disseminated. Make yourself heard, Uruguay is not well known. And the degree of acceptance that Uruguay has when it is known is brutal and that must be taken advantage of.”
“European tourism has its difficulties because the issue of distance is going to play against it; nowadays, getting on a plane for 13 hours is not very pleasant in the current circumstances. But taking into account that what will prevail is exclusivity, there are many people with a lot of money in the world. Uruguay can accept an international client with a high purchasing power.”
“The important tourism that left money in Punta del Este was all business tourism and that will continue to exist, they will have to pay more because it will be more expensive. But that tourism will be there and will look for new places. If it were possible to fly next winter it would be an interesting niche market, I don't think there will be the same flow of travel for next winter (December 2020). But now thinking about next year, work on that: sell security and promote.”
“Uruguay has a very close relationship with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)”
“Right now it is exceptional. There is great affection for Uruguay, so much so that this year on September 27, World Tourism Day, the UNWTO was going to celebrate it in Mercosur because it was the year of rural tourism. Two events were going to be held, one in Montevideo and another in Iguazú, on the three borders of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. All of that will not be possible, but the UNWTO has had an excellent relationship with the previous administration in recent years and has already started with the current one.
“We will get out of the tourism crisis thanks to travel agencies”
“All those who were dedicated to the mass tourism industry are going to suffer, but I think that the tourism crisis will be overcome by the help of travel agencies or it will not be overcome at all. It is the one that provides security, the Internet no longer provides security for contracting services. Travel agencies have behaved very well with this dramatic issue. Very few of the airline companies have returned the money, the majority have put the problem forward.”
“I think that this will be the key to the exit of tourism, and that will be to use a trusted travel agency and take out the relevant insurance. You have to take out travel insurance, not only for health reasons, but also for civil and criminal liability and reimbursements in case of inability to travel. Use a travel agency, take out travel insurance.”
