Interviews

Ms. Silvia Avilés, Director General of the Tourism Innovation Summit.

“The Spanish tourism industry will be smarter and more sustainable, with the implementation of technological solutions”

• Maallemi Youcef
• Friday 26 November 2021

Organized from November 10 to 12, 2021 in Seville (Spain), the second edition of the Tourism Innovation Summit marked a highlight and unmissable event for the travel industry. Ms. Silvia Avilés, in her capacity as Director General of the Tourism Innovation Summit, returns in this interview to share the great success of the Summit.

Afrik Economy: You have just closed the Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS 2021), what is your assessment of these three essential days?

Ms. Silvia Avilés : We are very pleased with the event’s feedback, both in terms of the attendee’s number with more than 5.200 visitorsattending physically in Seville but also for the strategies and networking that companies and industry leaders have been able to carry out. Our main objective for this second edition of TIS2021 was to highlight the current need to restore tourism demand in a sustainable and smart way. It is necessary for public administrations and private companies to collaborate in defining new ways of travelling that are adapted to the current needs of the traveller. Covid-19 has changed the tourism paradigm, and now customers are demanding more sustainability, we are all more aware of climate change and respect for the environment. And that is what we have presented at TIS2021: how to address this situation through technological innovation and generate a new tourism on a global scale. Tourism Innovation Summit 2021 has been the international meeting point where companies and leaders in the travel and tourism industry have been able to analyse what strategies to implement to reposition destinations and their tourism products to boost their competitiveness. We have been able to achieve this with companies such as Iberia, Vueling, Air France, Ryanair, Barceló Group, PortAventura World, NH Hotels, Accor Hotel Group, Hilton Group; tech companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, EY, Telefónica, Evolutio, Cloudbeds, and organisations such as WTTC, UNWTO, Skal International, NECSTouR, European Cities Marketing, Arival, Biosphere, Destinations International, MPI and PATA. All of them have come to TIS2021 to present their views on this new era for travel and tourism, hand in hand with digital transformation and sustainability.

What are for you the strong points of this second edition?

First of all, growth on international attendees, including representatives of public administrations from Europe, Asia and Latin America, thanks to the better general situation of the pandemic and the relaxation of travel restrictions. Thus, in TIS2021 we have counted with the presence of countries, regions and cities such as Crete, Bologna, Bulgaria, Quintana Roo, Medellin, UK, Saudi Arabia, Finland, France, Ghana or Tunisia, who have attended the congress to explain their success stories in the restoration of international tourism. As for TIS2021’s hot topics, sustainability has been one of the strategic axes analysed by multiple companies. According to an international study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), 80-90% of the waste detected on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea comes from tourism, and it is estimated that around 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tourist activity. We are talking about an industry that directly moves around 1.4 trillion dollars in the world, figures that consolidate this sector as a generator of employment, wealth and social development, but which in turn generate a strong impact on destinations and the environment. For this reason, at TIS2021 we wanted to highlight the importance of resuming sustainable travel and the urgency of doing so in the very short term.

What was decided during the Tourism Innovation Summit?

Some of the main conclusions we agreed at TIS2021 were the importance of establishing new ways of travelling and promoting more inclusive tourism, personalising trips more according to the target audience and new customer demands. The pandemic has impacted the way we consume all kinds of services, including travel, and new trends have been generated while customers are asking for more exclusivity in their experiences. The tourism industry has to be able to adapt to this new reality in a sustainable way, restoring demand and generating the minimum impact on the environment.

France was invited for the first time this year, for what purpose?

The presence of France as TIS2021 Destination Partner helped us to share challenges and solutions that we can address jointly and collaboratively in our strategies to reactivate the tourism demand. France is a country very close to Spain and this means that the concept of travel experience is similar in both territories and can be complimentary. We have seen that French and Spanish travellers demand new things from the tourism industry in their experiences, and for this reason we wanted to join forces with the French country to face the common challenges we have in tourism and establish synergies.

After transport, the tourism sector is the most affected by the coronavirus epidemic (Covid-19), what solution do you propose to revive this sector in the coming months?

The lockdownperiod led us to an increased interest in creative and small group activities, and territorial restrictions have also made people curious about their own culture, which is leading to a new ways of travelling. Working along these lines and developing technology-based solutions that make it possible to recover tourism demand in a more safety way is the main solution that we have analysed in TIS2021. Also, all the promotion and activities that are being held on local markets can help proximity economies, but also because a reference of reactivation to attract increasingly foreign tourists as soon as they start travelling, they will be prepared.

What would you tell us about this second edition compared to that of the year 2020?
As I said, we have noticed a strong increase in international attendees and tourism industry leaders from different countries around the world. We have also been accompanied by media from different countries, which has also reinforced the visibility of the event and the reach of TIS2021 around the world.Additionally, we have seen that many companies wanted to participate to present their ideas and innovation projects that will revolutionise the tourism industry in the short term. Last year, TIS - Tourism Innovation Summit was a success story to demonstrate that events, conferences, and tradeshows can be celebrated in a safety way during pandemic. But this year has been the year to boost TIS2021 to a next level, showing that it is the must-attended event to discover the latest innovations and technological solutions that will help the travel and tourism industry to restart.

How do you see the Spanish tourism sector in the next five years?

I think the Spanish tourism industrywill be more smart and sustainable, with the implementation of technological solutions and a strong focus on sustainability strategies todevelope a new creative tourism. The industry has to face the challenge of generating a new circular economy business model that consists of co-creating unique experiences from existing resources, through the use of creativity. In TIS2021 we have seen the importance of developing this new tourism model that responds to the current reality and increases the competitiveness of destinations.

When have you planned the next edition of the Tourism Innovation Summit?
The next edition of TIS – Tourism Innovation Summit will be held from 2 to 4 November 2022 in Seville. We hope to see you there and soon we will launch the new campaign.