Alex Trelinski
A third of Benidorm’s hotels are still shut because they depend on UK visitors, according to the Hosbec hotel association.
40% of Benidorm’s tourists come from Britain but UK travel restrictions mean that the holiday-makers are simply not there.
Hosbec president, Toni Mayor, told El Mundo: “33% of our member hotels are closed because they work exclusively with British customers and therefore it makes no sense for them to open.”
Hosbec figures suggest that currently nine out of ten occupied rooms are filled by domestic tourists, with 62% of Benidorm’s hotel beds available.
“Domestic tourism is higher than expected as some hotels are reaching 80% occupancy at weekends,” observed Mayor.
Prominent hotels like the Grand Luxor and Palm Beach are expected to reopen in July.
Since the start of the pandemic, Hosbec estimates that each hotel has suffered losses between €50,000 and €150,000 per month depending on its size.
Toni Mayor said: “Demand is still stagnant but there have been some recent reopenings to increase availability.”
With the EU COVID certificate in place and speculation over UK travel restrictions being loosened to allow fully-vaccinated people to go abroad, Mayor is waiting to see what happens.
“Increases in high season summer demand will depend directly on the opening of borders which is down to the European political authorities and the British,” he observed.
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