Mastercard recently announced a partnership with the Spanish government to launch a Tourism Innovation Hub in Madrid that is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2022.
The hub will aid the recovery for global tourism through “innovation, research and collaboration across the ecosystem,” according to a Jan. 20 press release. It was ratified at the FITUR International Tourism Fair between Spain’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and President of Mastercard Europe, Mark Barnett.
“There has been a multi-trillion-dollar impact on the global tourism industry over the past couple of years, but Mastercard is committed to enabling innovation and ensuring that technology is harnessed for a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable recovery,” said Barnett in the release. “The Tourism Innovation Hub will foster programs and build partnerships which will help the industry recover and drive more inclusive and sustainable tourism growth. Being located in Spain will allow us to leverage the expertise of a country intrinsically linked to tourism and the second most visited destination in the world."
The new center will prioritize research and leverage data insights, while co-designing technology solutions, the release stated.
Data shows that in 2019 and 2020, travel and tourism was nearly cut in half from 10.4% to 5.5%. International visitors spent $1,691.5 billion in 2019 which dropped to $517.6 billion the next year. The World Tourism Organization estimates that international tourist arrivals were 70% to 75% below 2019 levels in 2021.
“We are going to stop measuring the success of the Spanish tourism model exclusively by the increase in the number of tourists - we must now go beyond this and focus on quality, profitability, innovation and sustainability, as well as social inclusion and territorial cohesion,” Maroto said in the release. “There is no time to lose in taking up this challenge. And we all need to work together - the institutions and the private sector - strengthening our alliances and bringing other partners on board so that the Spanish tourism sector maintains its international leadership.”
Travel ranks second to going out to eat as the most missed activities during pandemic lockdowns, according to the release.