Alex Trelinski
BENIDORM and Costa Blanca hoteliers claim that bookings are being cancelled after Sunday’s announcement of a second State of Alarm.
Alicante Province Hotel Association president, Victoria Puche asked: “Who is going to come to a country in a State of Alarm?”
The nationwide emergency measure could run through to May 2021, but on Tuesday the government confirmed that it would be up to individual regions like the Valencian Community to decide on curfews after November 9.
No precise details of hotel cancellations were made public except for anecdotal comments from associations that some reservations had been scrapped since the weekend.
Benidorm has suffered badly during the coronavirus pandemic.
The resort reported an 80.7 per cent drop in hotel overnight stays between July and September compared to the same period in 2019.
The Hosbec association general-secretary, Nuria Montes said:
“It’s hardly the best message to send out to tourists across Europe that we have a State of Alarm until May because that just generates insecurity and concern.”
The Servigroup chain is keeping two hotels open in Benidorm during the winter months.
President, Jose Maria Caballe, is worried by the latest developments:
“Of course you have to take measures against the coronavirus but you cannot be changing what you are doing minute-by-minute.”
“Tourism and hoteliers are suffering badly and I don’t know how this is all going to end,” he added.
