If there is no mobility there is no tourism. This is how the sector, the main economic engine of the country, values ​​the de-escalation plan presented yesterday by the Government and which contemplates the opening of hotels, with capacity measures and without common areas, from May 11.

"We are talking about a sector that is based on two pillars: mobility and sociability", explains the vice president of Exceltur, the Alliance for Tourism Excellence and the sector's main lobby, José Luis Zoreda, who believes that until these conditions are met a minimum will not be possible to open hotels.

For example, hotels can open in Gandía, but "their clientele mainly comes from Madrid" . "What is the point of opening the establishments in this municipality if you cannot move, if you cannot go have a drink in a bar in minimal conditions?"

Relief from social tension

It is, he summarizes, "like going from being confined at home to doing it in a hotel room." He also believes that the plan presented yesterday "is a de-escalation of social tension, to alleviate people who have been locked up for weeks, but it is not viable for the sector . " "More than encouraging, it discourages."

"The plan's laudable objective is to open up lights and hopes that can alleviate the social discomfort of a citizenry fed up with reclusion and who seeks to recover their normal life", but "in no case, a plan designed to scale up the opening of a sector "says Zoreda.

The tourism sector involves many subsectors (leisure, hospitality ...) and, therefore, as long as they cannot operate with a certain normality, "we will not be able to see the light." "We are an integrated value chain. This begins with the availability of transport and ends with the existence and attractiveness of the misnamed complementary offer, linked to the enjoyment of leisure or business that gives meaning to travel or tourist experiences and is how you think the tourist, when considering where to go, "he says.

Common zones

In addition to mobility (currently prohibited between provinces), it is not feasible that a hotel can be opened without common areas (without a swimming pool, for example) . Exceltur believes that until mid-June it will not be feasible to open the hotels, and only with internal demand. They believe that it will be necessary to pass "from the current support measures to a powerful rescue plan." Meanwhile, the sector will have left 92,000 million euros on the road, with a fall in activity of 60%.

The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) has also received the government's de-escalation plan with disappointment, and they believe that "it does not provide answers to the country's first sector, which contributes 14% to the national GDP, more than 120,000 million annual euros.

The plan " does not solve at all how to proceed with the opening of tourist accommodation businesses." According to its president, Jorge Marichal, "with this picture it is practically impossible for us to reopen business without destroying the business fabric."

In his opinion, the restriction on mobility by province "does not contribute to this new normality." "If we do not have free movement, with all the necessary control measures, action protocols and 30% gauging for safety are useless; we simply cannot open," he says.

"With this table, it is practically impossible for us to reopen the business without going directly from the ERTE due to force majeure to the ERE or bankruptcy," he adds.

The entire sector asks for the approval of a single protocol for the tourism sector, validated by Europe. This technical document is already being worked on at a technical table directed by the Institute of Tourist Quality of Spain (ICTE). The protocol will be ready next Friday, May 8.

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