InterMundial takes part in the ESIC Valencia debate on the sharing economy

The working lunch, organized by INMETUR and moderated by Esther Montalvá (Tourism&Law), focused on the taxation of the p2p model.

InterMundial, a broker specializing in travel insurance, participated in a debate on the sharing economy in the tourism sector at ESIC Valencia on May 24th. The meeting was moderated by Esther Montalvá, a lawyer from the tourism-specialized firm Tourism&Law, and included participants such as Be Mate, among other companies.

With the goal of analyzing the new tourist consumer and the new tourism landscape created by the p2p model, INMETUR (Marketing Innovation in Tourism Companies, part of ESIC Business&Marketing School) organized this working lunch. Participants included Manuel López, CEO of InterMundial; Manuel Giner, CEO of Muchosol; Chema González, Strategy Director at Be Mate; Fernando Ibáñez, General Manager of Ética Patrimonios; Javier Solsona, Director of Invattur; and representatives from ESIC Valencia.

One of the key points of the debate was the taxation of these companies. On this issue, all attendees agreed on the need to pursue and eradicate tax fraud, though there were differing views on how to achieve this. While most participants pointed to the need to establish burdens similar to those of the traditional sector to avoid giving the p2p model a competitive advantage, some business owners argued that each activity should have a distinct tax treatment. "We must find a scenario where everyone can compete on equal terms," summarizes Manuel López, CEO of InterMundial.

Regarding the existing legal vacuum for these exchange platforms, the possibility of a cross-sector p2p regulation that could homogenize the essential foundations of collaborative consumption across any service sector was dismissed. Everyone pointed to the need for any established regulation to aim at enabling healthy competition and legal certainty.