The Diplomat
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the main themes of the tenth edition of the Shopping & Quality Tourism Summit Spain, which will be held on 21 and 22 October and will be opened by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
The event, entitled La evolución del modelo turístico: una oportunidad para España. El esfuerzo para mantener el liderazgo en el nuevo Mercado (The evolution of the tourism model: an opportunity for Spain. The effort to maintain leadership in the new market), will be developed in a virtual format and can be followed from all over the world through the website www.theshoppingtourism.es. Apart from Maroto, the President of Renfe, Isaías Táboas; the delegate of the Corporate Vice President of Samsung Spain, David Alonso; the Executive Director of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Manuel Butler, and the President of the Summit’s Organizing Committee, Jordi Hereu, will also participate in the opening of the Summit.
The meeting, which has the global support of Renfe and Samsung, the sponsorship of Madrid destination and the support of UNWTO, aims to “promote the excellent quality offer of the main Spanish cities at international level, in order to attract international visitors in the next autumn-winter season and throughout 2021”.
It will also address the need to “reset” the Spanish tourism model and tackle the effort required to “maintain leadership in the new scenario”, as well as Spain’s position in Europe, where “we are one of the countries most affected, precisely due to our position as world leaders in terms of receiving travellers and the capillarity of tourism in the economy as a whole”.
Therefore, the interventions, presentations, round tables and innovative case studies of the Summit will revolve around two thematic blocks: the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and tourism in Spain in the 2020-2021 period, with special attention to the offer of large cities, diplomacy and the international positioning of Spain, the perspectives for 2021, the proposal for quality in Spain and investment, technology and sustainability.
The speakers will include leading representatives from the sector, the Administration, business and other areas, such as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Latin America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach; the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez; the representative of the European Commission in Spain, Francisco Fonseca; the former minister Josep Piqué; the Tourism Councillor of Madrid City Council, Almudena Maíllo; the President of Paradores, Óscar López; and the Director-General of Turespaña, Miguel Sanz.
