The president of the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality and Sustainability (Ictes), Miguel Mirones, has urged public administrations to grant additional consideration to companies that have certifications in Quality and Tourism Sustainability when awarding public contracts for tourist services.
During his appearance at the Más Senior Meeting, organized by the Fundación Más Senior together with the Ayuntamiento de Salou, he defended this proposal by recalling that "one of the historic achievements of the Spanish tourism sector was to take into account the Quality Systems of establishments".
However, he lamented that, "far from moving forward, it has stopped having value for some administrations", and added that "as a businessman, it seems to me to be a serious mistake, because the quality tool allows us to carry out continuous evaluation and provide security and guarantees".
In his view, if importance is stripped away from the fact that establishments undergo an independent audit in order to obtain a certification, "we are in a world in which anything goes." He emphasized that, for the traveler, having an accredited value chain translates into an added measure of trust.
In his capacity as well as president of the Asociación Nacional de Balnearios (Anbal), he highlighted the role of thermal spas as one of the main pillars of senior tourism in Spain, stressing that the trajectory of this segment makes it possible to appreciate both the transformations that are already consolidated and those that are being produced at this time.
As he explained, the senior customer "combines daily thermal treatments with visits to the surrounding area, which makes the experience very rewarding".
He also indicated that demand for this type of services is increasing, driven not only by demographic change, but also by "the very high levels of satisfaction" shown by surveys. In this vein, he advocated for strengthening ties between the participants in these programs and the resident population in the destinations.
The event brought together various sector specialists, including Assumpció González, vice president of FATEC; Marta Nello, director of the Cátedra de Investigación Turística Salou-Costa Daurada of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili; Raquel Sánchez, president of Paradores; Kika Luczak, head of sales at PortAventura World, and Jacob Fernández Blasco, managing director of Mundiplan.