If you travelled to the Balearics this week you would probably be surprised to see the same black and red logo everywhere, displayed by more than 500 historical competitors: hotels and vacational rental properties, billboards and TV screens, newspapers and social media, right wing and left wing parties, the rich and the poor.

The smallest thing, a virus born in Asia, has achieved a unanimity no one has ever dreamt of, blurring boundaries and making the whole society raise their voice in favor of a sector that gives life—directly or indirectly—to 100% of the population.

Spain—and even more so, the Balearics—depends on tourism, with the industry being responsible for 12.4% of GDP in 2019. And citizens have passionately and desperately accepted the invite by some of the most important hotel chains to join a social and entrepreneurial movement urging the government to help tourism—or, at least, let tourism professionals work.

SOS TURISMO calls for business reactivation and for economic activity to resume as soon as possible, thereby making an urgent call to local government to act, based on three thrusts.

·       Prioritise residents’ and tourists’ health through an effectively managed vaccination programme in order to welcome tourists again on Easter, or at least in summer.

·       Design and put into action a negotiated plan with all stakeholders, involving the Spanish government and the European Union, to save the economy and employment.

·       A thorough communication strategy highlighting the destination’s safety and solvency.

In my opinion, SOS TURISMO is going to disembark in the rest of Spain and possibly the European Union soon. The extent of the tourism industry’s demands, beyond any cultural or political views, ought to make our whole political system tumble and fall if the representatives we have elected to look after our interests as a society are not capable of guaranteeing the survival of the business fabric we all rely on.

“Going back to the basics” in this case means learning how to downsize and “hybridise” big events.

Now pivoting to the MICE Industry, so close to tourism and yet so understated and unknown to the general public, should we take a step forward and endorse SOS TURISMO’s Manifesto?

Many of our readers will probably remember Red Alert #wemakeevents, a movement with similar objectives, aimed at defending all professionals working in culture and MICE. From the UK to Germany, Italy, France or Spain, the movement conquered great presence in the media by illuminating buildings with red lights and occupying public squares with flight cases.

Now, what has Red Alert achieved, beyond pictures on newspapers? Nothing.

What is SOS Turismo going to achieve? Time will say.

Do we need a similar, mediatic “MICE attack” to get funds for our industry, or vaccines?

In my opinion, this is not the right question. We need to change the focus and concentrate on how we can market the MICE concept in order to make politicians and society understand its intrinsic value as a knowledge broker and business catalyst, and help our clients reach their objectives online and onsite, as soon as the virus lets us plan face-to-face events again.

“Going back to the basics” in this case means learning how to downsize and “hybridise” big events, so our clients’ reputational risk is lower, whereas their economic impact is the same or higher.

It means being patient and humble again in our job, that essentially consists of serving our clients, and help them find greater value for money by using our creativity, contacts, experience and know-how. Maybe we could rely on Millennials, or even younger talents, to observe the current opportunities from a fresh perspective.

Instead of whining, I suggest we all try and figure out what MICE tourism provides in terms of time-effective cross-cultural business encounters, and focus on our strengths, as any tourism destination or organization ought to do in order to enhance its competitiveness (see the diagram below).

In Italy we say “Aiutati che Dio t’aiuta” (the Lord helps those who help themselves), or, in other words, find the way to survive the unexpected, and do your best to enjoy the ride, together with your tribe: stars will align to help you reach your goals.

Diagram published in “Sustainable Destination Branding and Marketing Strategies for Tourism Development,” edited by Anukrati Sharma, Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández and Azizul Hassan.