Ilunion, Cool Room Atocha, Grupo GAT and AEHM win the Hotels & Tourism award from CaixaBank in Madrid.

– This year the awards celebrate a special edition that recognises the best social and innovative initiatives that the sector has implemented during 2020 to adapt to the crisis derived from COVID-19.
– Ilunion has been awarded as the best initiative in the “Social” category; Cool Room Atocha and the company Gestión de Activos Turísticos (GAT) have won ex aequo in the “Innovation” category; and AEHM in the “Institutional” category.
– CaixaBank’s territorial directors in Madrid, Rafael Herrador and Juan Luis Vidal, highlighted the sector’s ability to adapt to the situation over the past year and the bank’s commitment to contributing to its recovery.
– The names of the national winners will be announced on 19 May during the sector’s most important tourism fair, Fitur.
Madrid, 12 May 2021
Illunion, Cool Room Atocha, Grupo GAT and the AEHM have won the regional phase of the third edition of the CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism awards in Madrid, which this year celebrate a special edition and recognise the best social and innovative initiatives that the sector has implemented during 2020 to adapt to the crisis derived from COVID-19. After analysing the characteristics of the different projects and initiatives presented, these three companies or entities from the tourism and hotel sector have been selected as those that have implemented the best initiatives in the different categories of the awards: “Social”, “Innovation” and “Institutional”.
Ilunion won the award for “Best Social Initiative” for its assistance to the healthcare system following the declaration of a state of alarm by COVID-19.
During the hardest months of the pandemic, several of Ilunion’s hotels were medicalised and turned into field hospitals in order to add spaces to serve as an annex to the collapsed health centres, as well as offering their facilities as places for medical staff to rest.
Cool Room Atocha and the GAT Group have been awarded the prize for “Best Innovative Initiative”, ex aequo for their actions and business adaptation to carry out innovative solutions. Cool Room Atocha has launched Cool Meeting and Cool Office, spaces with flexible timetables and adapted technology, which were transformed into areas adapted for teleworking so that people who had to work remotely and did not have the facilities to do so at home found the solution in these spaces.
In the case of Gestión de Activos Turísticos, the award recognises the efficient management, focused on product design and the execution of repositioning plans, which has allowed them to have an average occupancy rate of 70% of their hotels during the difficult months experienced by the sector, while at the same time they have reinforced their commitment to their employees by maintaining their entire staff and even increasing 25% of their total in central services.

Finally, the award for “Best Institutional Initiative” went to AEHM, for its defence of tourism in the Madrid region during the pandemic, acting as an important link between the administrations and the main representatives of tourism in the region, with the aim of boosting the sector.
Rafael Herrador, territorial director of CaixaBank Madrid Metropolitano, explained that this special edition of the CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism awards aims to recognise the efforts and capacity for adaptation that the sector has shown during 2020 to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. “Tourism is one of the pillars of the Spanish economy and, with this initiative, now more than ever, CaixaBank aims to reaffirm its commitment to the sector,” Herrador said.
For his part, Juan Luis Vidal, territorial director of CaixaBank Madrid South, said that the financial institution “wants to continue to be a key player in the recovery of the Spanish economy and support the specific needs of the sector, with Madrid being a key place to achieve this”.
After having passed the regional phase, Ilunion, Cool Room Atocha, Grupo GAT and the AEHM can become, within their category, winners of the CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism awards at national level.

The jury will select two finalists per award, one of which will be the winner in each of the categories of this third edition of the awards. The final decision will be announced at the next edition of the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) on 19 May at the CaixaBank stand at the fair.

Support for the tourism and hotel sector

This award is further proof of CaixaBank’s commitment to the tourism market and, specifically, to social and innovative projects in the sector in Spain, a support that materialises through its specialised business line CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism, which aims to boost the tourism market through a model of proximity to hotel companies and businesses. This specialisation and knowledge of the tourism sector has enabled CaixaBank to provide customers in the tourism sector with specific support measures over the past year, including the granting of liquidity lines and moratoriums or grace periods on mortgage loans, in order to preserve companies’ liquidity as far as possible.

CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism offers the hotel market a range of differential products and services to help optimise the profitability of its business and simplify its daily activity. The incorporation of new specific products and services for the hotel market complements the specialisation in the sector, taking into account the needs of the different sub-sectors: hotels, tourist accommodation and campsites.
CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism is also particularly sensitive to projects that contribute to environmental sustainability and social inclusion, such as those that incorporate improvements in energy efficiency, accessibility, water and waste management, or that promote the employment of people at risk of exclusion. In this context, CaixaBank stands out for its responsible actions, as recognised by the main international organisations. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index ranks CaixaBank among the world’s best banks in terms of corporate responsibility.

CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism has agreements with more than 40 hotel federations and associations, such as the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), and regularly organises meetings with leading businesspeople from the sector throughout Spain. In addition, the financial institution is a member of the World Tourism Organisation, the United Nations body responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism for all.
This membership makes CaixaBank the first European bank to become an affiliated member of this international organisation, the leading organisation in the field of tourism. On 6 November, at its 42nd Plenary Session of Affiliate Members, the World Tourism Organization presented CaixaBank with an award in recognition of its support and contribution to the tourism sector during the pandemic.