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ECONOMIC PRESENT

Miquel Fluxá: "With the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook an era ends, but you don't have to tear your clothes"

RACHEL VILLAÉCIJA

Madrid

Tuesday, October 8, 2019 - 01:55          

The president of Iberostar, Miquel Fluxá JORDI AVELLÁ

Travels. The world behind Thomas Cook: How tourism on demand has revolutionized tourism

On Sunday, September 22, while tour operator Thomas Cook negotiated a ransom to avoid bankruptcy, businessman Miquel Fluxá, owner of the Iberostar chain and one of the richest Spaniards in the world, led a rescue plan for the British group .

"In the short term, we had to fight for Thomas Cook not to break," he says. That Sunday the Spanish businessmen of the large hotel groups were contacted. The plan was to convert the group's debt into company shares. So that of those 200 million they needed to avoid ruin, at least 100 million could be taken out of Spanish hotels.

"But the United Kingdom did not want to support the company," laments the businessman, who believes that with Thomas Cook, a period is closed. "There has been a major change in the marketing of travel, but this is adjusting," he says.

As explained, in Iberostar 30% of sales are made through the web, and then some platforms such as Expedia or Booking absorb another important part. "The tour operator is less and less important, but it can continue in beach destinations, where they have 30, 40% of sales," he says.

The businessman believes that the hotel sector, if it has problems with the tour operators that sell part of the rooms, can react, for example, with offers on its website. "Thomas Cook's problem is that he had very heavy structures from previous years and did not have the ability to react to change all this in time."

CONNECTIVITY

Iberostar was the most important supplier of the British group, but the businessman believes that from now on the sector has to look forward and not regret what has been lost. It establishes a list of priorities, among which is to guarantee the air connection to the Canary Islands.

Tour operator airlines were flying to the archipelago, which also has another problem with Ryanair, which plans to close its bases in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in January, so travelers would also lose part of these links.

Political instability does not help, the country's solution is at the center. We will see a PSOE that is focusing and a PP that is focusing. and there we have to go, it is the solution for Spain .

DO NOT GO TO MATURE AREAS

They have projects in the Caribbean, Aruba, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru. Money is not a problem what is missing are coherent and profitable projects. We do not want to go to supermature areas to do a megahotelen Rivera Maya. This is not a success because there is excess supply. But if you invest properly, the profitability is correct.

SUN AND BEACH

He gives an example of when he started, when the French grandeur dominated European tourism and the best restaurants had French chefs. Today in the kitchens, they are Spanish.

Scandinavian tourism, for example, values ​​Spanish cuisine and that demonstrates the evolution that our country is having. This has not been done in two days, but with time and much effort.

There is one issue with which Fluxá is especially combative, and it is climate change and the strategy of companies to make tourism a sustainable business. Because our beaches are the claim of many of those 82 million tourists who visit us.

In Iberostar they have removed single-use plastics for customers, there is also a laboratory where the impact is studied. There is obvious evidence such as the last hurricanes that have been so brutal and this is the consequence of our sins.

He believes that the eco-tax is poorly focused because what he collects is not invested in important things. It is incredible that a country with 82 million tourists does not improve the issue of waste that is thrown into the sea. We represent between 20 and 30% contribution to the GDP, that we do not take care of the environment anymore is disastrous.
ENLACE:
https://www.3tres3.com/tags/mercados-economia/