Alex Trelinski
COSTA Blanca hoteliers are reporting a ‘mass surge’ of UK bookings for the summer but have coupled the optimism with a warning that a third of the region’s hotels will not reopen.
The mixed picture came after a meeting yesterday(February 24) between the Benidorm-based Hosbec association and Valencian President, Ximo Puig.
Hosbec president, Toni Mayor, said: ”There is almost a desire to hit back against the coronavirus and this week we have seen the biggest-ever week for reservations in the history of tourism.”
Mayor’s claim came with no actual figures to analyse but he stated that ‘the British are reserving en masse for the summer’.
“The pace of reservations for August, September, and October is looking good but news of travel restrictions being lifted in May has encouraged bookings for June and July on the assumption that travellers will have been vaccinated,” added Mayor.
“At least half of the summer season can now be saved,” he said.
The strong optimism over hotel bookings is countered by Mayor’s view that over a hundred hotels on the Costa Blanca will not reopen in the summer.
The Hosbec leader called for financial aid regionally and from Madrid.
“The situation continues to be highly uncertain and we have hotels that have not reopened since October 2019 when they closed for the season and then the pandemic caught up with them. There needs to be a de-escalation plan and, above all, aid.”
Mayor wants the ERTE furlough scheme extended to cover staff during the summer who are unable to work because their hotels remain shut.
