Quality business tourism, quality hotels, service providers, event venues Spain

Contracts

On the whole, contracts for hotel room blocks are fairly standard. Normally, a contract will cover the type of services being rendered, the size of the room block on a daily basis, and the price per room (indicating if VAT is included or not in the price, the type of board, and the establishment's free-room policy). Additionally, contracts will also include the cost of additional rooms, if needed, the form of payment, the check out time and the penalty for exceeding it, and possible cancellation costs.

VAT

All non-Spanish businesses established in any one of the other 24 members states – plus Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Norway and Switzerland – can claim a VAT rebate for specific expenses incurred in Spain. Refundable expenses include those stemming from corporate events, trade fair participation, petrol, accommodation and board, car rental, miscellaneous services (such as transportation, equipment rental, etc.), goods that remain in the country, and casual staff hired in situ.

You can request VAT (known as "IVA" in Spain) rebates directly or through an intermediary. If you choose the first option, you must fill in Form 361, available from the Spanish tax office, of which there are delegations in all of Spain's provincial capital, or downloadable from the Tax Office's web site in PDF format (see document), instructions in English available in pdf format and then send it to the address below, together with your company or organisation's VAT registration and photocopies of the invoices – originals should only be sent to the Tax Office on request, and in such a case within 15 days of notification:

Delegacion Especial de Madrid de la AEAT
Seccion de Regimenes Especiales
C/ Guzman El Bueno, 139, Planta 1
E-28071 Madrid

The second option is more expensive and time-consuming since it involves giving a third party (usually what is known as a gestor in Spain) power of attorney. The document should then be legalised by sending it to the pertinent government department of the country of origin: in the case of the UK, for instance, the Foreign and Commonwealth Service.

Insurance

No matter what type of event is being staged, basic insurance coverage is essential. As the organiser, you have a legal responsibility to event participants, so at the very least you ought to purchase standard cover for public liability – accidental bodily injury to third parties, etc. Additional cover includes property damage or robbery, employee liability (injury to staff, whether your own or casual), cancellation (adverse weather, non-appearance of key people, enforced reduced attendance, technical problems with teleconferences, travel, money and door receipts, etc.), and terrorism.

Quality

Due to ever increasing competition from established and emerging destinations, quality has become the most important factor in the tourist industry. To this end, the Institute for the Quality of Spanish Tourism (Instituto para la Calidad Turística Española) awards the "Q" for quality tourism stamp to companies, establishments and localities that fulfil certain exacting requirements.