SANDRA ANDUJAR

What is Elite Excellence – Federación Española del Lujo?

ELITE EXCELLENCE – Federación Española del Lujo is a registered entity and recognized by the Ministry of the Interior that encompasses more than 130 selected high-end and luxury firms. They are international and national companies operating in Spanish territory that advocate for excellence and are therefore benchmark in their sector in the luxury segment. Our members are a group of carefully selected companies in multiple sectors of luxury such as Fashion, Jewelry, Cosmetics, Decoration, Gastronomy, Real Estate, Motor, Banking, etc. We operate as a large luxury community from where we promote the preservation and consolidation of the image of luxury in Spain, where we also create an excellent contact link between brands and institutions, as a networking point and we look after the interests of each of them. Another aspect we take care of is philanthropic support for different causes of solidarity and associations.

You work all over Spain. Are there any outstanding projects on the Costa del Sol?

Of course. In the coastal capital we presented the first luxury congress “Málaga Luxury Summit” at the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga through presentations and round tables where we discussed key aspects of the sector. This Summit will take place in the first week of March 2023 and will bring together the main national and international brands specialized in high-end and luxury products and services. We have the collaboration of the Malaga City Hall. We are excited about the project as it is a fabulous opportunity to highlight this premium destination and make it even more attractive to the high-impact tourist as well as to attract new investors. Such actions improve the quality of a city and promote quality employment, as highlighted by Jacobo Florido.

Our Federation has a very special relationship with the Costa del Sol, and we try to support important initiatives and projects happening in the South such as philanthropic events mainly the Gala AECC in Marbella, and the Starlite Gala to which we are unconditional year after year going with a part of the team and putting all our resources to benefit fundraising for charitable causes.

Have you released more projects throughout this year?

We are motivated to detect opportunities and offer solutions or at least propose new formulas providing our vision and personal seal. So, this year we have launched Palacio Beauty and Palacio Gourmet. Both are an annual event held at Palacio Tirso de Molina in Madrid. It is a house-palace built in the seventeenth century where brands from both sectors, previously selected, can have an apartment. We liked the idea of offering premium and high-end brands a space different from a stand at a fair. We invite both media, B2B and B2C. Gourmet Palace will be held on 20 and 21 March and Beauty Palace on 25 and 26 April.

This year we also launched Spain is Excellence. The first Tourism and Culture Consortium for Spanish excellence. It was born with the aim of unifying the voice and efforts of the different institutions for its promotion and dissemination, with lines of action between the different municipalities, councils, autonomous communities, and the Spanish government to promote national and international actions and strategies to attract quality tourists and promote Spain as a destination of excellence and luxury.

How is the luxury industry in our country? We are a great reference for our hotel, gastronomic, cultural and artisan quality.

Spain currently has 283 Michelin stars distributed among 228 restaurants. Of which 11 have 3 stars, 33 two stars and 184 one star. Without forgetting about the hundreds of benchmark restaurants that offer excellent culinary experiences.

As for the hotel sector we are among the first countries in the world with more five-star hotels. Although they are mostly concentrated in large cities, many people flee from the tourist saturation and look for alternative accommodations that offer them greater connection with nature, digital disconnection, meditation, the so-called Wellness, or wellness tourism. Spain is already the fifth country in the world with more visitors interested in wellness, only behind China, India, the United States and Germany.

In any case, this type of client has in common to be very demanding because it requires a high level of attention, as personalized and agile as possible, and high standards in all the experience offered. The accommodation becomes a destination. High impact tourism plays a fundamental role in the wealth of our country. The “premium tourist” spends four times more on products and services than a “conventional tourist” on destination and generates twice as many jobs, but it is also added the exponential value that generates other sectors and therefore has a positive impact on the generation of new jobs.