Marinas de Andalucía Association meets in Almerimar for its third “Professional Conference” to discuss relevant issues in the marine industry

The Andalusian marinas and yacht clubs met at the Puerto Deportivo de Almerimar on the 9th and 10th November where they discussed key areas to manage their facilities such as tourism, legislation and sustainability, making it possible to further enhance the benefits of the nautical-sports sector. Their main focus was to:

Create synergies between public and private entities to analyse the tourist sectors and to take actions aimed at sustainable, quality tourism. Get to know the recent regulatory modifications that have a major impact on the sector in detail. Search for real energy efficiency and sustainability solutions for marinas and yacht clubs in the 21st century. Turn nautical-sports facilities into marine biodiversity regenerators. Show the importance of marinas and yacht clubs and their environment as a focus of tourist attraction through digitalisation. These are some of the topics that were discussed during the 3rd Professional Conference organised by Marinas de Andalucía, with the collaboration of Puerto Deportivo de Almerimar and sponsored by the Costa del Sol Tourist Board’s Tourism and Planning Department, Martínez – Echevarría, Equiport, Ocean Ecostructures, Equinac, Itenders, San Simon & Duch, Universidad de Almería, Pandora, Axa – Agencia Torres Puerto and Estudio 7. More than 50 people related to ports and sports clubs attended the event, along with an impressive selection of professionals who took part in the training and analysis presentations.

Manuel Jiménez, president of the Marinas de Andalucía association, and Javier Escorial, councillor of Almerimar, were in charge of inaugurating the conference. Manuel Jiménez emphasised that Andalusian recreational boating is going through a great period and has gained considerable momentum on both the national and international scene, whilst also highlighting the need to invest to improve our competitiveness. Meanwhile, Javier Escorial, welcomed all attendees and expressed how honoured he was to host this edition and how he and his team were prepared to make the event as successful as possible.

The closing ceremony was attended by the general director of the Andalusian Public Ports Agency, Rafael Merino, as well as the mayor of El Ejido, Francisco Góngora. Rafael Merino outlined the path of success that began in the last legislature, where greater legal security has been given to the sector, as well as the important challenge of future investments in improvements aimed at environmental sustainability and upgrading the port facilities. In turn, Francisco Góngora noted the importance of marinas as job and wealth generators within the local economy where they are located.

Presentations

Pedro Barrionuevo, director of the tourism and business development department of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board’s Tourism and Planning Department, spoke about the different activities carried out with the joint participation of public and private institutions, which are enhancing, protecting and conserving the natural and heritage resources of the Malaga coastline.

Carlos García – Manrique, partner at Martínez – Echevarría clearly and informatively explained the different scenarios involving term extensions in Andalusian regional concessions, giving his own interpretations on the matter.

The commercial director of Equiport, José Luis Espinosa contributed ideas and real solutions that can be directly applied to nautical facilities to make sustainability, viability and competitiveness possible.

Óscar Herrero and Paul Rami from Ocean Ecostructures spoke about how to transform our docks into marine spaces for environmental regeneration.

Eva Morón, coordinator of Equinac, an association dedicated to the conservation of the natural ecosystem, presented a success story in Almerimar regarding marine species recovery.

Gádor Espinosa from Itenders, reported on the Next Generation Funds and the wide possibilities for port and yacht club concessionaires to obtain financial backing for their investments.

Ignacio Rodríguez from San Simon & Duch, analysed interesting legal and practical aspects that can help to solve issues surrounding late payments in port facilities and the consequent abandonment of vessels.

The digital nautical guide Navily, represented by its sales manager Manuel Pasión, explained how to improve customer management and the image of our brand through its digital portal.

Finally, Jerónimo Burgos and Jaime de Pablo, director of the chair of sustainable tourism and professor of applied economics, respectively, at the University of Almeria, have put on the table of analysis from an academic point of view, the latest trends in tourism, focusing on the blue economy, through a review on the concept of sustainability in the maritime field.

About Marinas de Andalucía

Marinas de Andalucía is a professional association whose objective has been to represent, manage and defend the general interests of the marinas and yacht clubs of the Andalusian Community since 1982. Currently, Marinas de Andalucía is made up of fifteen marinas and clubs: Marina El Rompido, Puerto Sherry, Alcaidesa Marina, Puerto de La Duquesa, Club Náutico Estepona, Puerto Deportivo Estepona, Puerto Banús, Puerto Deportivo Marbella, Puerto Deportivo Fuengirola, Puerto Deportivo Benalmádena, Club El Candado, Marina del Este, Almerimar, Puerto Deportivo Aguadulce and Puerto Deportivo San José.