Nombramientos

🏥 Joan Gaspart, a hotelier from Catalonia and friend of former Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, supports the current Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili in his campaign for re-election at the World Tourism Organization (OMT) elections in May. Pololikashvili, despite opposition, seeks votes from hesitant countries to remain in his position. Zapatero has contacted Morocco for support, while former politician Bono has attempted to gain the Dominican Republic's favor for Pololikashvili, although the country remains noncommittal. Other countries like Venezuela and Guinea, where Zapatero's influence extends, are not OMT members.

🏩 Ginés Martínez, after a 19-year tenure, was ousted from Alpitour Group in 2024, where he last served as Vice President of Global Alliances and International Development. Based in Italy, Alpitour is a tourism powerhouse with over €2 billion annual revenue, comprising more than 2,500 travel agencies, Voi Hotels, Neos airline, and parent company to Jumbo Tours Group.

📌 The new hotel association in the Canary Islands, formed to counteract Ashotel's inaction, has recently apologized to the Tenerife hotel employers' association president Jorge Marichal. Initially, the association, backed by national and international hotel chains, criticized Ashotel's direction. However, they have now retracted their statements, blamed for cowardice, and created a division between local and foreign business interests. Key figures in Tenerife's tourism like Puig, Riu, Kiessling, Escarrer, and others are recognized as the pioneers of tourism in the region, despite the presence of controversial characters among them.

🐎 Javier Blanco, yerno of Air Europa owner Juan José Hidalgo, takes the bullfighter's alternative in Moralzarzal, Madrid, celebrating the town's bullring's 20th anniversary. Blanco, a quiet individual, left the bullring in 2006 to work for Hidalgo's Globalia Group, eventually leading the hotel division. Despite the break from bullfighting, he still participated in festivals. His return to the ring is notable not just for the 20-year hiatus, but at 42 years old (turning 43 in July), he's joining bullfighting stars José Antonio Morante de la Puebla and Alejandro Talavante. The event, likely to sell out, is also remarkable for Blanco's familial ties and the media attention it garners.

🏨 Meliá Hoteles International convened a shareholders' meeting for May 8-9, informed by CNMV. Montserrat Trapé Viladomat appointed as first vice president and Cristina Aldámiz-Echevarría González de Durana as second vice president of the board. Gabriel Escarrer approved for variable compensation for 2022-2024. Meliá's net income in 2024 was €162 million, 24.5% higher than the previous year, with revenue of €2.013 billion, up 4.4% from 2023, and a 10.7% increase in RevPAR.

💰 Ávoris and Viajes El Corte Inglés, Spain's leading travel groups, remain at odds in 2025 despite reconciliation efforts. No progress has been made since Ávoris aimed to restore commercial relations at the start of the year. The conflict escalated when Ávoris hired Toni Frau, former Traveltool director, and made decisions against VECI's interests. Juan Carlos González, Ávoris's director general, could influence a potential reconciliation after breaking their longstanding Imserso agreement, which sparked the dispute. The disagreement led both companies to withdraw agent incentives for selling each other's tour operator products, inadvertently boosting sales for rival firms in the industry.

✈ Plus Ultra retires its last operating Airbus A340, named Santa María Portugalete (registration EC-MQM), from its fleet after eight years of service. This marks the end of an era for Spain's A340s, as Iberia first flew the model in 1996 and sold its last units in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic. Plus Ultra now standardizes its fleet to only A330s for better operational costs in maintenance and fuel consumption, with the retired A340 heading to the Netherlands for dismantling.

🏨 Marc Rahola and Diego Calvo acquired 100% of Concept Hotel Group, equally, after co-founder Tallyn Planells left in 2012. The company, initially with three hotels in Ibiza, Mallorca, and Barcelona, now operates nine hotels solely in Ibiza and employs about 400 workers. Rahola joined the company in 2021, purchasing a 25% stake to boost expansion. The group includes brands The Concept Hotels, Mongibello, and the new Mítico.

🛩 On March 26, a Bombardier Challenger 3500 plane, the only one in Ryanair's fleet and set to be registered in the Isle of Man, landed in Dublin Airport from Montreal Trudeau and later continued to London's Stansted Airport. It may replace one of Ryanair's three Learjet 45s, which are 12 to 21 years old and are used as "air ambulances" for technical assistance, carrying spare parts or engineers. These jets are based in Milan Bergamo and London Stansted, owned by Malta's Aviation Finance And Leasing, with Ryanair as the sole shareholder.

✈ Jorge Minué, comandante de Iberia, ha finalizado su última trayectoria profesional con el vuelo Madrid-Barajas. Minué, parte de la VII promoción de la ENA y ex-instructor, se retira para disfrutar más de su pasatiempo favorito, el baloncesto. La torre de control le rindió homenaje durante su despedida.