Miguel Mirones (ICTE): "Quality is and will be a key pillar of Spanish tourism"

How have the demands and needs of tourists changed in recent years?

Over the years, tourism has evolved, as has society as a whole. Tourists are introducing new priorities and the sector, over the last decades, has had to respond to their changing needs. In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, tourists demanded quality services. These were years in which people became more aware of their rights in this regard and one of their main criteria, when selecting a destination or enjoying an establishment or experience, was that it should not disappoint them and that it should meet their expectations in order to be able to enjoy their leisure time with full guarantees. 

In 2020, the world faced one of the greatest crossroads in its history: the covid-19 pandemic. A humanitarian crisis that also severely affected the global economy, particularly the tourism sector. After the strict confinement, activity gradually resumed and people, shocked by what they had just experienced in those months, demanded security. In other words, tourism organisations or products needed to implement a series of protocols to reduce the possibility of spreading the virus. And not just any protocol, but one that had the approval of the health authorities.

What are today's requirements in this respect?

Now that the pandemic is over and the sector has recovered, tourists are no longer only interested in quality and security. Concern for the future of the planet and society as a whole has led people to demand greater sensitivity to sustainability from governments, businesses and also from the tourism sector. The UN has echoed this social demand at a global level and has established a series of recommendations: the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, pointing the way forward for economic and business policy in the coming years. 

Throughout this journey, Spain has carried out exemplary work at a global level through the Spanish Institute for Tourism Quality, which has responded to the adaptation of the industry to the new social realities, promoting standards that have ended up becoming ISO standards with a global scope, and creating marks to certify the standards, such as the Q Mark for Quality, Safe Tourism Certified or the S for Sustainability mark, which accredit compliance with these quality, safety and sustainability objectives through a rigorous external auditing model. It is important to note that the ICTE is the only certifier in the field of tourism recognised by the National Accreditation Body (ENAC). 

How important is quality in tourism services today?

Quality has been, is and will be a key pillar of Spanish tourism. In the early 2000s, it became clear to the whole sector that quality as a tourism model had to be adopted as opposed to low added-value models. Quality enables customer satisfaction, provides entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to develop management with guarantees, gives them a better reputation and positions a country like Spain as a world leading destination. 

How has the perception of sustainability evolved among tourists?

The role played by the United Nations, in terms of public awareness, has meant that sustainability has become a necessary element in any human activity, whether personal, economic or political, and therefore in the case of tourists when choosing a holiday destination. Today we are all aware that resources are limited and that we must make responsible use of them; and tourists, just as they take these aspects into account in their lives, opt for those services that demonstrate a concern for the environment.

But, in addition, thanks above all to the 2030 Agenda, it has been understood that sustainability has a triple aspect and that, in addition to environmental sustainability, a social and economic sustainability also exists. And, in this sense, there is much greater concern in the tourism sector for effective equality between men and women, for work-life balance, for the economic viability of the projects undertaken or for the commercial and social relationship with the community around the destinations. In other words, a much broader concept of sustainability that aims to improve people's standard of living and care for our environment. Every day, the market increasingly demands that the implementation of these types of policies are certified, and the ICTE's S Mark is there just for this, just as quality was certified with the Q mark in its day. 

 What role does this certification play in the tourism industry?

Faced with the appearance of numerous certificates and marks without any type of control or guarantee in the areas of quality, safety and sustainability, certification offers tourists the assurance that the tourist services, destinations or establishments they enjoy are managed - as far as these aspects are concerned - by means of a series of criteria based on a national (UNE) or international (ISO) standard. Compliance with these standards promoted by the tourism industry is assessed by means of an external audit carried out by world-renowned auditing companies and, subsequently, the ICTE certifies compliance with them.

We live in a time of much confusion in this regard and it is important to make it clear that tourism organisations or institutions that are certified enjoy a better reputation. The ICTE has always based its work on providing this professionalism and rigour to its actions, which is why we are also accredited by ENAC, to be able to develop this system with all the guarantees in the areas of quality and sustainability. In fact, the ICTE is the only entity in the field of tourism recognised by ENAC to carry it out. What is not evaluated is devalued, and if we want Spanish tourism to continue to be the most competitive in the world in these aspects, we must commit ourselves as a country to this working methodology.