26 September 2024. There is a change at the highest level in the Andalusian employers' association of tourist accommodation. The Association of Tourist Housing and Apartment Professionals of Andalusia (AVVAPro) has ratified, at an extraordinary general meeting held yesterday, Juan Cubo as its new president, who takes over from Carlos Pérez-Lanzac, who has held the position these last 8 years since its creation and being one of the founders. Also, Very Paloma, professional practicing in Granada, has been appointed first vice president, and Nacho Chaves, from Seville, will occupy the second vice presidency. The assembly has also decided to change the statutes of the association to form a much larger board of directors and to also have a representative from each of the 8 Andalusian provinces in the face of the need imposed by the growth of the sector and the association itself.
The new president will serve a continuous mandate, “as it could not be otherwise after the important work carried out by Carlos Pérez-Lanzac all these years for the growth and strengthening of the sector and our association”. The challenges of our accommodation modality are many in a period of regulatory changes at all levels. (European, state, regional and local), and this will be one of the lines of work of the new board of directors.
“The sector needs to be able to count on a stable legal framework. The last decades have brought about a complete regulatory revolution. Without going any further, In the last year, new standards and requirements have been approved from the European to the municipal level., passing through the regional and the state. All of this makes us conclude that it will be very difficult to discriminate which measure has been accurate in its objectives and in its application.", explains the new president of AVVAPro.
“In the tourist accommodation sector, a period of calm is needed to assimilate all the new regulations and determine which public policies have best balanced the economic boost and demand for a growing accommodation modality with coexistence and the most efficient use of residential land. ”, according to Juan Cubo.
Continuing to walk on the path of professionalization of the sector as in recent years is another of the great challenges of the new mandate. “We must advance in professionalized management by companies that can provide higher quality services and in turn can create employment to socially distribute the benefits of the activity.”. This is a very fragmented sector and promoting its concentration for the sake of quality and well-being is a challenge worth facing”, Cube continues, which clarifies that in no case will the small owner who wants to manage his home on a self-employment basis be ignored. “But we do have to rethink a model in which services of the caliber in these cases can be provided without this entailing their main dedication”.
The new board of directors of AVVAPro also believes it is essential to demand a certain regulatory harmonization at the national level. The organization of tourist activity is a power that falls within the competence of the autonomous communities and that should not change.. However, They must make an effort to parameterize, through sector conferences, a common minimum that facilitates the provision of services in more than one region.
This way you can see the strengthening of companies that drive economic growth., the creation of employment and the social distribution of the benefits of this activity. "If after a few years with that regulatory calm to which we referred we are able to discern which public policies have been most effective in the management of this activity, "We will be able to establish these common characteristics to assimilate the different regional and municipal regulations.".
“Finally,” adds Cubo.- We have an immediate challenge that consists of communicating, communicate and communicate. We are a sector that creates jobs, that generates wealth and distributes it in more hands than other accommodation types. We are not responsible for the housing crisis but we are responsible for the urban rehabilitation of cities, that thousands of families can eat, that thousands of local businesses can continue to grow and not disappear in the face of online platforms and large stores. We guarantee that thousands of families can afford to have a holiday of as high quality as any other type of accommodation without having to go into debt or finance it.”.
“However – laments the president of AVVAPro- this does not permeate society. As a sector we have to make a great effort to make people see the benefits we bring to them in first person., improve the social perception of our activity”.
With the renewal of the board of directors, the mandate of the first and only president of the association to date ends. AVVAPro was founded in 2016 hand in hand, among others, by Carlos Pérez-Lanzac. It was a completely new sector at that time., whose future was unknown, no regulation. Eight years later everything has changed completely, including the association itself, which has become the employer of tourist homes and apartments throughout Andalusia.
Representa, through its members, a 21.000 tourist accommodation and 100.800 places. Also, AVVAPro defends and promotes the general and specific interests of tourist accommodation in the region., forming part of organizations such as the Spanish Federation of Housing Associations and Tourist Apartments (FEVITUR), the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia (CEA), the Costa del Sol Tourism Forum, the Plan8 of Seville and the Tourism and Commerce Board of the Cádiz City Council among many others.
“The sector currently has magnificent demand prospects. Last year more than five and a half million tourists (5.579.491 concretely) They stayed in tourist homes and apartments in Andalusia and spent 6.000.863.748 euros. On a national scale, This modality generated 2023 an impact of 30.796 millions of euros, and our community contributed a 19,48 percent of the total, explains Pérez-Lanzac.
“We have to continue on this path of increasing quality and excellence in the sector.”. "We are going to continue working with local and regional administrations to reach consensus that benefits the entire society without endangering this sector that is key to the economy and development of Andalusia.", concludes the former president of AVVAPro.
New AVVAPro Board of Directors:
About AVVAPro
AVVAPro is an organization made up of companies, professionals and owners dedicated to the management of tourist homes and apartments in Andalusia, that provides competitiveness and quality guarantees to this accommodation segment, for the benefit of its users and related community.
The association holds the representation, through its members, from 21.000 tourist homes and apartments and close to 100.800 Accommodation places distributed throughout Andalusia. Also, AVVAPro defends and promotes the general and specific interests of tourist accommodation in the region., forming part of organizations such as the Spanish Federation of Housing Associations and Tourist Apartments (FEVITUR), the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia (CEA), the Costa del Sol Tourism Forum, the Plan8 of Seville and the Board of Tourism and Commerce of the City Council of Cádiz.
AVVAPro promotes the positive contribution of tourist homes and apartments to the economy in aspects such as the deconcentration of tourism in saturated areas, deseasonalization and visitor loyalty, the promotion of family tourism, residential and in areas without housing, increasing accessibility and comfort for users, the efficient use of the real estate stock and second homes, and the promotion of the rehabilitation of buildings in historic centers.
