2017 Award to the “Entity that has collaborated most with the yacht sector” Conselleria de Treball, Comerç i indústria

The Conselleria de Treball, Comerç i indústria of the Government of the Balearic Islands, has received an award for being the Entitiy that has collaborated most with the yacht sector during the past year. The organization, managed by the counselor Negueruela, has been one of our best allies when making important improvements for the sector, boosting quality vocational training of our future professionals; and collaborating with the companies, so that the Palma Boat Show becomes more relevant at an international scale.

1- This year, the Conselleria that you are running, receives the award to the Entity that has most collaborated with the yacht sector. How do you value this recognition?

We value it positively, because it is a recognition to the work that the team of the Conselleria does, together with the IDI (Innovation Institutue). It has been a lot of work with the sector. We are aware that the nautical industry is very important for our Community; both for the creation of jobs and for its volume of business.

This award encourages us to continue the same way, strengthening and deepening the collaboration with the sector, continue the dialogue with the associations and nautical companies, listening their needs and develop inititatives together, to favor the promotion of the yacht industry. All this, can be done by organizing the Palma Boat Show, the future Plan for Industry. Or we can also improve human capital through training, so that productivity and competitiveness of nautical companies progress; and, at the same time, the economic model of the Balearic improves and diversifies.

2.- Our companies have the highest boat enrolment dates of all the State, and the data of charter improve year by year. What policies are being carried away (or will be carried away) from the Conselleria to consolidate this growth and potentiate it at the same time?

In the Govern, coordinately, we collaborate with nautical associations to develop initiatives to promote the development of the sector, with overseas activities to make the companies known, and attract investment in the territory, as well as potentiate training and the appeal of the Community as a touristic destination.

3- Maybe, the flagship of the public-private cooperation with the yacht sector is the Palma Boat Show. From your Conselleria, how do you perceive the present and the future of this event?

We value the Palma Boat Show positively. The Show has grown through the years, and it has become one of the biggest fairs of the sector in Europe. It has been a mandatory referent at an international level in the world of yachting, and it is also a place where the companies publicise the new products related to the industry.

The success of the Boat Show can be proved, because the previous edition was the most demanded of the history of the show, so that there had not ever been so many companies that wanted to participate. In fact, 90% of the companies present in the year before, the last day of the show requested to participate in the edition of the following year.

Every year, there is more presence of superyachts, which generates attractiveness and new visitors, no matter if we are talking about potential buyers or passionates of yachts. Year by year, it becomes a more technical show, because the 95% of the participants have a direct relation with yachting. And, every time, there are more brands present, as well as exhibitors and participant countries. Moreover, due to the own dimension of the Palma Boat Show, it is also important because it generates directly approximately 300 jobs.

For the future, we are working in the same way. We are optimizing the space so that there can be more participants, and also we can improve the quality of the ones that are present. We make that the Palma Boat Show becomes a more technical and specialized event, that gains attraction so that the number of visitors increase every year.

On the other hand, this Show makes Palma, Mallorca and the islands a tourist attraction even bigger, because it positions the territory and the companies from here as the leading brand, regarding yachting.

4.- During the next months will start the first lessons of nautical occupational vocational training, and they have received the support of your conselleria. Do you think that training is a requirement to keep the excellence of our sector, and at the same time it is a real job opportunity for youth?

One of the main challenges that have arisen from some sectors and business activities is the fact that the lack of training level of unemployed workers, most of the time prevents them from accessing to qualified workplaces.

From the Government, we are aware of the importance that the yacht sector has in the Balearic, because their economical activity is huge, around 400M€. It also generates a considerate number of jobs (around 3,000 people). Besides, it is a job with important salaries, every year with a higher demand. And in some occasions, it has to be covered with professionals that come from outside the islands, because we do not have enough in the islands.

Since the first moment, the government has given importance to training, it is one of the main concerns to improve the human capital of our companies. The aim is to acquire higher levels of productivity and competitiveness, and at the same time the quality of work improves, the diversification is favored and the economic model of the territory improves.

In this sense, the SOIB has worked by developing nautical training programs for unemployed people.

The training nautical courses have increased for unemployed people, and we are working to make a training nautical center for employment in Palma.

Together with the sector, we have ellaborated a dual training program, one of the modalities that is having more success around Europe. It also has a high level of incorporation, that sets aside 3M€ to hiring and training unemployed people in nautical companies, in occupations like panel and paintwork or electronics, which are demanded professional specialities, and which sometimes are covered with professionals that come from outside.

We will keep working with the sector to continue with this programs, and we will also introduce improvements or recommendations that will benefit unemployed people and the own companies with the aim of progressing our production system.

5.- Your conselleria has started some controls to guard companies so that they meet their different obligations. Referring to our sector, we remind the controls done to the STP. Will these actions continue regularly?

We compromise that there will be more control on the whole sector, in all the term. This control is done to battle unfair competition, specially because it is a sector where all the companies that obey the law are very damaged with the companies that simply sell and leave. We have to stop unfair competition. The companies make huge investments preventing labor risks, they pay fair salaries, they worry for their workers, and this makes them lose competitiveness respect to those companies that do not follow the rules. We have to stop unfair competition.