He is aware of the great responsibility that he holds at the head of the public company Turismo y Deporte de Andalucía, but he does not shrink from the challenge. Having been involved in municipal politics and trade union negotiations for many years, Francisco Artacho Fernández is excited by challenges. And one of the most difficult ones he faces is to maintain the efficiency of investments in the promotion of Andalusia’s tourist offer in these times of budget cuts.
With an affable, approachable manner, he shows interest in what his interlocutor says -in this case about golf- and quickly assimilates those ideas that could be useful when developing new tourism promotion strategies. Before assuming the general direction of Tourism and Sport of Andalusia, Artacho was a councilman, for Izquierda Unida, of Culture, Youth and Transport in the City Council of Benalmádena, and also performed the functions of CEO of the Municipal Company Innovation Pro Benalmádena. In this same Consistory he was previously delegate of Housing and Tourism and CEO of the Municipal Housing Company. He also has an extensive professional and trade union career linked to the world of tourism, since, among other responsibilities, he was part of the sectoral division of Hospitality, Commerce and Tourism CCOO, from where he participated in the signing of the main agreements signed in recent years in the hospitality industry. Previously, Artacho, a graduate in Labor Relations from the University of Malaga, held positions of responsibility at the Hotel Casino Torrequebrada in Benalmadena.
– The tourism sector represents 11 percent of the autonomous community’s GDP and employs more than 400,000 people. What does it mean for you to be at the head of the public company that manages a sector of such strategic importance for the Andalusian economy?
It is a challenge that I face with great enthusiasm and respect, since we are talking about one of the main industries for Andalusia, probably the one that is best withstanding the crisis and the one that can best facilitate a medium-term recovery of the economic situation.
As far as this company is concerned, it is well known that it is a basic part of the structure of the Ministry of Tourism and Trade, as we are responsible for implementing and shaping the projects and approaches to tourism promotion that arise from the Andalusian Government. This is a task in which we are currently immersed, both in the development of the actions planned in the coming months and, especially, in the definition of the main lines of the Action Plan for the next 2013 and the Marketing Master Plan 2013-2013.
– How is the crisis affecting Turismo Andaluz’s plans to promote the Andalusia brand?
-No strategic sector is unaffected by the crisis, and neither are public administrations. Andalusian Tourism corresponds to a Department that has been affected by various budgetary unavailabilities that have been communicated to it throughout the year. Thus, we have had to take measures to respond to the lack of funds in the Junta de Andalucía, as a consequence of the application of the adjustment plan imposed by the central government.
Thus, for the second half of this year we are analyzing what actions can be carried out in the current circumstances, studying the profitability of the same and the disbursement involved. What we can guarantee is that the promotion of Andalusia has not stopped at any time, that we continue to act in our main markets and that, as I have already mentioned, we are working on a new Action Plan to ensure the position of the community as a leading destination for the domestic market and one of the most important in Europe.
-What importance does Turismo Andaluz attach to golf as a tourist segment?
-It is one of the main products of the destination, in which we are especially competitive in relation to other areas. Andalusia has more than a hundred golf courses, which places us as the Spanish region with the largest number of facilities for the practice of this sport. But, together with the specific offer of this segment, we have a multitude of complementary products for all those who visit us for this reason. Golf tourists are very interested in culture, gastronomy and shopping, among other segments that are also of enormous importance for the community. In addition, golf is also an extraordinary complement for those who travel to the destination for other motivations, such as sun and beach or congresses and meetings.
We are a privileged destination for the practice of golf, with a multitude of hours of sunshine per year that allow us to enjoy this sport practically any day. This fact, together with the quality of our facilities, makes us an exceptional option for European travelers during the low season, which places this segment as a basic tool to combat the seasonality of the destination and to maintain acceptable levels of activity throughout the year. That is why golf is one of the focuses of our action and will continue to be so in the future.
-This year, due to budget cuts, the sponsorship of the Andalucía Masters in Valderrama, the main and most expensive golf promotional action of the Junta de Andalucía, which involved an expenditure of three million euros for the regional government, has been cancelled. Will this money be recovered again next year to carry out promotional actions for the golf segment? Do you think that the budget allocated in 2013 to this segment will be increased, reduced or maintained?
-As I have previously mentioned, the lack of budgetary availabilities communicated to the Regional Ministry has led us to rethink the actions planned for the second half of 2012. For these reasons, the PGA European Tour was informed of the impossibility of assuming the sponsorship of the Andalusia Golf Masters, within the framework of the decision to suspend the execution of certain projects 
due to the cuts suffered. We have prioritized the allocation of funds to actions of a smaller amount and greater results, according to efficiency criteria and adjusting to budgetary needs, such as direct consumer promotions and communication campaigns.
We must remember that the sponsorship of the Andalusia Masters of Golf is one of the actions with the highest amount of the programmed ones, since it amounted to a disbursement of three million Euros, entirely dedicated to the prizes, an amount that, at present, we cannot assume. However, we are already working on the definition of the main actions to promote the golf segment that will be included in the Plan for 2013, in which the fight against seasonality will be one of its main objectives. Thus, golf, which plays a fundamental role in this challenge, will be one of the axes, but always prioritizing those actions that generate greater profitability and allow us to achieve the objectives set.
-The golf world is very concerned about the consequences that the increase in VAT from 8 to 21 percent may have on golf course activity. Do you think that, as the sector’s managers maintain, we will lose competitiveness with respect to competing golf destinations such as Portugal or Turkey, for example?
-It is a measure that can have catastrophic consequences for the national tourism industry and in Andalusia in particular, and this is what the counselor has moved to the Ministers of Finance and Tourism, who asked them in two letters to reconsider that decision. The members of the Tourism Board, where trade unions and businessmen are represented, told us their great concern for a measure that does not understand that golf courses go beyond sports facilities, as they are more linked to the tourism sector.
Each year Andalusia receives around 425,000 golfers, especially during the low season months, mostly from northern Europe and the United Kingdom. It is striking the case of the United Kingdom, a market that in the first eight months of 2012 has grown by more than 10% and a significant part corresponds to the golf segment. This is a traveler profile of enormous interest for the destination, due to its high average expenditure and its ability to make the seasonal adjustment, but which will now be faced with a 13-point increase in VAT that could cause them to opt for other alternative options that are competitive in terms of price. Therefore, we will continue to insist that this measure be reversed and that the multiple damages that this measure will cause to such an important industry for our community be addressed.
-The Junta de Andalucía has a budget of 94 million euros for the promotion of this tourist destination during 2012. What percentage of this money is destined to the golf segment?
-Unfortunately, this was not the amount for 2012. We have already commented previously on the budget cuts made by the Board to the budget initially approved in November 2011, as a result of the adjustment imposed by the central government. This has caused us to have a considerably lower volume of resources for the promotion of tourism and sport as a whole, but we have not stopped the dissemination of Andalusia as a leading tourist destination, but we have sought new ways to maintain the promotional intensity prioritizing the most profitable actions.
In this way, it is difficult to talk about investments made in the year as a whole, because it will depend on how the rest of the year develops, but it should be noted that golf has remained one of the pillars of our work, with actions as outstanding as the celebration of the Andalusia Open or support for the Spanish Open, direct promotions to consumers, contact with specialized intermediaries in the main international forums or familiarization trips for professionals to learn first-hand about the destination’s offer. Also in 2012 the company’s action plan has put into operation a battery of actions directly related to the golf segment in addition to those carried out in the markets where the consumers of this product are potentially found, mainly the United Kingdom.
Leave a Reply