Nicolás Villalobos, Canary Islands, Spain
In March 2020 because of COVID-19, the Spanish government such as other administrations around the world imposed the alarm-state:
Companies, schools, industries, airports, ports, trains,…everything was closed.
Citizens could not go out from their homes and hundreds of tourists in Spain were locked up in Hotels where services of food, beverages. were also canceled.
After some weeks from these first panic moments, most tourism operators decided to close their business to wait for better times.
Nicolás Villalobos, is the CEO of the Grupo Cordial. His group known as the Cordial Hotel Group started negotiations with the government in order to get authorization to open Hotels and receive hundreds of tourists, workers, and other citizens caught up in the Canary Islands without their choice to exit through airports or ports.
Some days later, be Gruppo Cordial received approval from the Spanish government and opened the Hotel Cordial Vista Acuario in the main city Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
This meant a big success for the tourist industry, recognizing the human and professional contribution for tourists.
The tourism sector took an important role in this emergency situation.
Months later, during the South African variant of Covid, Delta variant, and Brazilian Covid variants it again hit the tourism industry in the Canary Islands and other tourist areas around the World,
Nicolás Villalobos and his group decided to open a new Hotel Resort in South of Gran Canaria, a new Hotel in Costa del Sol, Andalusia (South of Spain) and his group received many tourist awards such as seven Travellers’ Choice 21 of Tripadvisor and the Traveller Review Award 2021 of Booking.com
Nicolás was a Hero for tourists, hospitality industry workers and families caught up in the Canary Islands when they found a hotel to stay in waiting for the green light to safely leave Spain.
Nicolás Villalobos was nominated to enter the hall of tourism heroes by Alejandro F. Garcia Ruiz, the Honorary Consul of Guatemala in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.
He said his family has been a part of the tourism sector in Canary Island. He is a member of SKAL International and the Secretary of the Board of a 300 apartment hotel complex. He is also the past president of Arucas Rotary Club in Gran Canaria.