Jurídicos y Administrativos

🏕 With travelers increasingly seeking planet-respecting and community-positive experiences, 71% have not yet fully planned their spring vacations, seeing 46% open to discovering new destinations. HBX Group's environmental and social responsibility is evident as they've planted over 16,000 trees and compensated nearly 3,000 tons of CO2. Their workforce, representing 89 nationalities, 56% female, exceeds 3,600. They've dedicated 12,000 volunteer hours and trained 100% of their staff in ESG principles, aiming for ISO 14001 certification at their Palma de Mallorca headquarters. HBX Group offers 40,000 certified sustainable hotels and 135,000 accessible accommodations, reducing single-use plastics and promoting the Sustainability Hub and Think Big regenerative tourism, planning expansion into more countries.

🏨 In Mallorca, a collective unconscious belief suggests that hoteliers' gains mean losses for others, leading to political opposition and stigmatization in the media. Initially, ecologists supported Airbnb to democratize tourism but later admitted their mistake upon seeing its negative effects. Despite left-leaning newspapers criticizing vacation rentals, they amplify critiques when targeting major hoteliers. These hoteliers, despite a minimal percentage of their business being local, argue for defending a better future for all against damaging attacks.

📌 La Federación Andaluza de Agencias de Viajes (FAAV) fue creada en 2017 y está presidida por Luis Arroyo desde diciembre de 2020, reelegido en diciembre pasado. FAAV colabora con la Junta de Andalucía en la nueva Ley de Turismo, proponiendo que las agencias puedan obtener licencias de transporte y regulando excursiones de menos de 24 horas. FAAV también enfrenta desafíos con el registro del viajero, y busca formas de atraer talento al sector turístico.

🚩 Catiana Tur from ACAVE warns that the doubling of the tourist tax in Barcelona will damage the city's competitiveness, especially as it will become the most expensive in the country. Tur criticizes the allocation of tax revenues to housing policies instead of reinvestment in the tourism sector and beneficial city infrastructure, fearing it could divert tourists to other destinations and discourage off-season travel. The concern extends to impacts on both vacation and MICE tourism.

💸 Óscar Perelli, the Executive Vice President of Exceltur, criticizes the planned increase of the tourist tax in Barcelona, arguing it's not the solution for managing tourism's negative externalities. He suggests improving the management of overcrowded urban areas and combating illegal offerings as more urgent than raising taxes. The measure could harm Barcelona's competitiveness and disproportionately affect less affluent travelers. Perelli also labels the proposal to allocate a quarter of the tax revenue to housing problems as inappropriate, as tourists shouldn't be held responsible for local housing issues.

🏰 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently advocated for a transatlantic free trade agreement with "zero" tariffs between the EU and the USA, echoing statements by tech billionaire Elon Musk. The US needs inhabitants and their data for tech research competition with China, while Europe requires lower taxes, reduced welfare state expenditure, increased labor dynamism, productivity, entrepreneurial spirit, and cheap energy. UK's King Charles III is prepared to offer the US "associate member" status in the Commonwealth during President Trump's upcoming state visit, a proposal Trump enthusiastically greeted on Truth Social.

📍 Estados Unidos y Europa han congelado $280 mil millones de Rusia por la invasión de Ucrania, con activos en situación ambigua. La relación entre Rusia y Estados Unidos, bajo la administración de Donald Trump, ha mejorado. Vladimir Putin ofrece devolver los fondos en forma de aviones Boeing si termina la guerra. Rusia tiene pedidos de 28 Boeing 737 para UTair y seis B777 para Volga-Dnepr Airlines, y propone reanudar vuelos de Aeroflot con Estados Unidos.

🔥 The unions rejected the latest proposal from the tourist and hospitality employers in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Wednesday and are maintaining the strike set for Thursday and Friday during Holy Week. The Canarian government has mandated minimum services for hospitality. The proposal, mediated by Canarian President Fernando Clavijo, was rejected by 57 votes to 51 in an assembly of Sindicalistas de Base delegates. Around 80,000 workers from Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro are called to strike, with about 30,000 in the lodging sector. Employers offered a 6% salary increase, adjustable beds, and a pledge to maintain purchasing power. Hospitality in Tenerife employs 76,821 people: 33,633 in lodging and 43,188 in food and beverage services. Minimum services decreed are between 15% and 25% in various operational areas.

🛈 Over half of the global tourism sector companies are using generative AI to assist customers during the booking process, as per a survey by Amadeus. Despite this, data protection concerns and lack of training are major hurdles, with 35% of sector executives citing these issues. Additional barriers include data quality and inadequate tech infrastructure (33%), ROI concerns (30%), and high recurring costs (29%).

🏨 In the Canary Islands, a government decree mandates minimum services during a strike: 15-25% staffing for cleaning, reception, maintenance, and kitchen services in hotels. Specifics include one cleaning team per establishment per day, 25% staff at reception and maintenance, and a minimum 15% staff for restaurants and kitchens per shift. This action aims to uphold sanitary, safety, and hygiene standards during the Easter week, with hotel occupancies around 95% and the presence of children and disabled persons. Unions like Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) plan to challenge the decree in court, arguing it infringes on the right to strike.