Almost a million people who benefit from the Imserso travel program for the elderly can stay without traveling, after the appeal presented yesterday by Mundosenior, which is the union of companies formed by Barceló and Globalia, against the award of these trips.

The trips of the retirees are distributed by several joint ventures, which is the temporary union of several companies that partner to provide a specific service. Specifically, those of the pensioners are distributed by Mundosenior (formed by Globalia and Barceló) and Mundiplan (formed by Alsa, Iberia and IAG7).

The problem is that both groups are facing each other. Four years ago there was already conflict in the allocation of the travel package. This time the one of the peninsular coasts (Lot 1) has been awarded to Mundiplan and Mundosenior has been excluded when considering that it did not meet the technical requirements.

Yesterday the deadline to appeal was over and Mundosenior has done so claiming that he was not given enough time to present claims and correct the errors in his proposal.

Delay

This will almost certainly delay travel for this 2019-2020 season. They were scheduled to begin in the first half of October. They end in June and benefit almost one million pensioners.

Trips are awarded in batches. Lot 1, which are trips to the coasts of the peninsula, was awarded to Mundiplan, and is the one that has resorted to Mundosenior. This, on the other hand, did have lots 2 and 3 awarded, which are trips to the islands and inland areas.

It is likely that Mundiplan will also resort to the interior travel lot and, therefore, Mundosenior alleges that it presents the appeal, so as not to be left out of the Imserso program if this occurs.

This resource is something that the Ministry of Industry and Tourism did not have , since the minister of the branch, Reyes Maroto, assured this weekend that he hoped that nobody would resort and the trips would begin in their terms.

Problem for hoteliers

The problem is for the elderly who sign up for these trips, but also for hoteliers, who from October, when the summer season is over, invoice thanks to these trips. Specifically, more than 300 hotels throughout Spain with 900,000 seats will participate. A delay in travel will have an impact on the templates, which will have to be reduced if trips are not made in their time.

According to Europa Press, the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, Juan Molas, this resource does not surprise them "and shows the" general malaise of the sector ", including agencies and other actors.

Molas recalled that from the hotel management they foresaw these problems and insisted that the specifications be modified "by listening to the professionals who are involved."

The hotel management presented in May an appeal against the specifications of the travel contest considering that the rates collected do not cover operating costs and damage their interests. Hoteliers claim that the price per person and day should be around 25 euros (currently between 22.10 and 22.50 euros) to avoid losses.

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