Hotels in Spain holiday island Mallorca claims re-opening impossible without tourist flights

NOT IMPRESSED: The hotel business associations said the government’s lockdown de-escalation plan reflected “a profound ignorance of the tourism sector.” CREDIT: FEHM Facebook @fehmallorca

RE-OPENING Mallorca’s hotels is not possible without tourist flights, the sector claims.
The FEHM Mallorca Hotel Business Federation and the ACH Hotel Chain Group said it is “not viable” to open the doors to their establishments without air connections bringing in visitors.
The associations also said they need clear procedures endorsed by the health authorities to be set out before they can get back to welcoming guests. A further sector demand for restarting activities is more support measures and an extension of ERTE temporary suspensions of job contracts.
The response of both the FEHM and the ACH to the Spanish Government’s coronavirus lockdown de-escalation plan was “disappointment and amazement.”
In a joint statement they said the plan was not adapted to the reality of the sector and represented “a profound ignorance of tourism and business sector.”
They called for “mass screening of staff, customers and suppliers”, which they said would, “contribute to guaranteeing that we are a safe destination.”
The associations maintained the important thing is to “be effective in decision-making”, with a “multi-sectoral vision due to the health-economic inter-relation.”
Mallorca’s hotels, which shut their doors on March 19, believe tourism will be one of the last sectors which will recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis due to the particularly heavy blow it has taken.
But according to the associations, the de-escalation plans as they stand “will not resolve how to proceed to opening”, adding that the proposed conditions “give a false impression of returning to normality.”
If the situation is complicated on the mainland, it is “much worse in the Balearic archipelago”, according to FEHM and ACH, as it depends “absolutely on arrivals by air.”
Bearing in mind that most of the islands’ visitors come from other European countries, “we are the most affected autonomous community in Spain”, they affirm.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

Comments