Pedro Sánchez states that recovery of tourism depends on complete and mass vaccination

Hotel Riu Plaza España, Madrid

During his speech, the President of the Government stated that "the first step has now been taken in the path to recovery: the vaccination process. The recovery of tourism begins with vaccination. And the complete recovery with complete vaccination. Absolute and massive".

In this regard, Pedro Sánchez recalled that Spain is currently ranked ninth in the world in terms of the vaccination process and highlighted our country's commitment to guaranteeing the availability of vaccines at a global level, including approval by the Council of Ministers of the Solidarity Plan for Universal Access to the Vaccination, designed for the surplus doses that are not needed in Spain, to reach other countries.

A government committed to protecting tourism

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoPedro Sánchez acknowledged that Spain, the second largest global tourism powerhouse, has become one of the areas worst hit by the pandemic, but also recalled that our country is one of those that has most worked through its public authorities to protect the sector.

To date, the government measures have led to the protection of close on 1 million jobs in the tourism sector, 260,000 independent contractors and 125,000 companies. In the second phase, the tourism policy was strengthened with a total allocation on 1.35 billion euros in the National Budget for 2021, an amount that is four times higher than the Budget for 2018, in order to boost the reactivation of the sector and improve its competitiveness.

And in parallel, the Plan for the Modernisation and Competitiveness of the Tourism Sector has been launched, with an investment of 3.4 billion euros, which will have an estimated impact on the sector of 44 billion euros through actions in five areas: the transformation of the tourism model towards sustainability, the modernisation of the tourism ecosystem, the commitment to digitalisation, the tourism resilience strategy for non-mainland territories, and special actions in the field of competitiveness.

The President of the Government reiterated his commitment to continue working through international forums, particularly through the UN World Tourism Organization, to resolve the problem of international mobility - the cause of the crisis in the sector. "Demand is not a problem, since a rapid increase in reservations was detected when the health conditions allowed this. Mobility is the problem", remarked Pedro Sánchez.

Sustainable tourism as a hallmark

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoPedro Sánchez remarked to the Executive Council of the UNWTO on the important role that the UN World Tourism Organization must play in the recovery of the sector, and urged the organisation to play a key role in pushing through a model of green, sustainable and inclusive tourism that Spain is committed to.

The President of the Government recalled that the work will continue to provide the UNWTO with a new representative headquarters that are suitable for its needs at the Congress Palace in Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, a headquarters that, according to Pedro Sánchez, must be "a meeting point for tomorrow's tourism".

Non official translation