How does the pandemic affect the tourism industry in qualitative terms? The tourism sector will be the most seriously impacted by the crisis: it is the one that has fallen the fastest and most vertiginously (98% of the activity in March) and it is the one that will take the longest to recover, due to the fear and mistrust effect, added to the effect of the economic recession in travel decisions. The crisis is liquidating or forcing the future of those outdated tourism companies and business models to be rethought. We all have to learn to be even more agile and adaptable, as the post Covid-19 scenario will be much tougher and more competitive. A huge leap is already taking place in the digital transformation of the industry, which we at Meliá have been anticipating a few years ago with great effort and investment, and which for many companies will be difficult to undertake. Will the way of doing tourism change? We will all be more aware of our environment, both as members of a social community and as a planet. This tragedy will make us all more responsible and supportive, also in our way of traveling. Meliá is honored to have been recognized in 2019 as the most Sustainable Hotel Company in the world, and we must continue working to improve every day, we and the entire industry. Have losses been quantified for Spain? The most favorable scenario according to Exceltur estimates point to a 32.4% drop in revenue forecast for 2020, but it could be much worse. The forecasts for the sector's income for 2020 made in December were 158,000 million euros, (12.4 of the estimated national GDP). In a highly optimistic scenario, with a partial return to activity from July, the losses could exceed 55,000 million, which would be equivalent to losing 5.5% of GDP, but could reach 100,000 million if, as we think, the recovery It is delayed until the end of the year. When do you calculate that we will receive tourists in Spain again? Is this year's high season completely lost? All temporary estimates are subject to overcoming the pandemic and the removal of restrictions, which absolutely condition tourism, especially if we speak at the international level, where different factors come into play regulations and recovery speeds. The recovery will take place at two speeds: a faster one for local trips that do not require shared means of transport, mainly domestic demand, and a slower one for international demand and that which requires shared transport (train and plane), within from the country. We do not have a history of this type of crisis; We only have the example of China, which leads us a certain lead. There the hotels are returning to a growing activity but extremely slowly. We consider various scenarios, the most realistic being that of a return to the pre-crisis situation towards the end of 2020. The pandemic has raged on our country. Will the 'Spain brand' be recovered or will it be stigmatized? Spain has always been considered a "safe destination" for geopolitical, cultural and infrastructure reasons. Frankly, I don't think any country is stigmatized by the coronavirus because unfortunately it will be a global problem. Of course, the management we make of the crisis will be very important for our reputation and for the trust in our country brand. And what should we do to regain that trust? In addition to promoting all the attributes that have made Spain the most competitive country According to the World Economic Forum, it will be essential to work on a great plan for repositioning and promoting Spain as a safe destination. Collaborate closely with the authorities of our main issuing markets to increase mutual trust, issue health passports and the like. We are sure that our main source markets, such as the United Kingdom or Germany, will maintain their loyalty to Spain for their holidays, so that if we strengthen our competitiveness and position ourselves as a "safe destination" we will be able to retake and even strengthen our leadership. The future of the sector is now more than ever for our government to develop a great tourism strategy for the country. Meliá has six hotels in China, which gives them an understanding of developments in that country. Did you foresee this scenario in Europe? At the start of the crisis in China, nobody expected that it could spread to the rest of the world with this intensity: the most similar precedent, the SARS coronavirus in 2003, also started in China, but killed less than 800 people and spread only to 14 countries. In our annual results presentation at the end of February, we insisted on the necessary "prudence", but we still predicted a limited impact due to the crisis experienced in China, which we now see has been overcome. I believe, in any case, that companies prepare faster than governments: when the seriousness of COVID-19 and the severity of the response of the Chinese authorities became evident, in our company we launched and implemented a global protocol of preparation and response in all our hotels in the world. We approved a contingency plan that would guarantee the continuity of the company and the maintenance of the maximum number of jobs. Even having prepared for the worst, I must confess that the severity of the alarm has exceeded all our expectations. Did the hotel businessmen warn the Spanish government? Did they ask for advice? The coronavirus already forced to suspend the ITB in Berlin and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​the sector was on alert. We did not have the information that the governments had in February, much less in March, when the MWC or ITB was suspended. Despite this, due to discipline and good governance, many companies had done their homework in terms of forecasting. How do you assess the forecast made by the Spanish government of this crisis? Forecasting was difficult because, as we know, there were no precedents. At first there was a lot of information intoxication and some denialism by some politicians at the international level, despite the evidence in China and the WHO's appeals. Now we must all be at one with the Government, supporting it to manage the end of the alarm phase in a responsible and agile way, and to lead the recovery with the least possible cost in lives, companies and suffering. What do you think about that were they allowed to hold numerous mass events despite the warnings of the WHO and the Italian precedent? It was a mistake, obviously. But I think that in many countries it was not possible to gauge the extent of this threat, it was not only a problem for Spain. The error has been global and the answer must also be global. How does Exceltur assess the government's economic measures? They have gone in the right direction in the labor section and the injection of liquidity to companies, but they have been too meager and not specifically designed for a seasonal sector like ours. What measures are lacking? From Exceltur we are asking for ad hoc measures , that offer us time and flexibility: forgiveness and moratorium on the payment of taxes and social security contributions, facilities for the liquidity of tourist companies and regulatory instruments that facilitate the renegotiation of rental contracts and mortgages on assets, among others. How important will national tourism be for recovery? Tourism can and should be an essential lever for recovery. During those months, the national market will be the only one that travels in Spain due to restrictions and mistrust. This market is very important, but it will not fill our coasts and beach hotels.

Meliá Hotels International manages 390 hotels in 40 countries and employs 45,000 people, a global brand in this unusual time of isolation. And it is precisely from the island on which it was founded, Mallorca, where these days its CEO observes the situation, also president of Exceltur, an association that brings together 28 heavyweights in the tourism sector, including Iberia, Renfe, Hertz and American Express. Since his confinement, Gabriel Escarrer (Palma, 1971) tries to look out onto the balcony of optimism.

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