hoteliers

For years summer is synonymous with gastronomic parties. In Galicia, hoteliers believe they are unfair competition

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If you travel to Galicia in summer it is likely that in addition to beaches, seafood and tourists In search of the best cove in which to plant your umbrella, find something else: Gastronomic parties. There are tens. To hundreds. From entrance spring to Autumn well advanced It is possible to meet throughout of the region quotes dedicated to percebe, Carneiro Ao spongrazors, Albariño or hamburgers, between a long long etc. They are so many and so many people move in Ribadeo (In the province of Lugo) local hoteliers and merchants They have said enough. The reason: where others see a mass celebration they have detected something else, one “unfair competition”. In a place in Galicia … Ribadeo is a small town of the Eastern Mariña (Lugo Province) of somewhat less than 10,000 inhabitants. However, in summer thousands of tourists attracted for their heritage, landscape, gastronomy, environment and especially their great jewel: The beach of the cathedralsone of the great natural monument of the Peninsular North. The INE calculates that only between June and August were housed in the hotels of the municipality 28,200 travelersthousands of potential clients for shops, coffee shops and restaurants in the town. Local trade … and something else. The fact is that in Ribadeo (as in many other villas in Spain) there are not only stores and bars. Throughout the year and especially in summer, fairs, markets, gastronomic parties are held … events organized in the most central streets and squares and that capture the interest of neighbors and visitors. The large dating calendar serves for the people to be more attractive, but the local merchant association (Acisa Ribadeo) He just lifes his voice to alert that not everything is positive. In his opinion also represents a “unfair competition” For businesses that work throughout the year, not only in summer. “Without Control” celebrations. The matter is serious enough for the organization to have been treated as a great point of the day in a Extraordinary Assembly held this week. Has even dedicated A reportunanimously ratified and in which he exposes why (in his opinion) the celebration “without control” of this kind of quotes undermines its profitability. “It includes the arguments for which Acis emphasize. “Acisa is not against the celebration of these markets and events, what we reject is that they be held without control, on the poorly appropriate dates and with excessive durations,” claims The Association Manager, Jesús Pérez. “In recent months, events with little planning have been held, without transparency with respect to the promoters or the purposes to which the benefits are dedicated, becoming scheduled every little time and in the middle of high season. This implies direct and unfair competition for local trade and hospitality and a deterioration of the ribadeo image.” Why’s that? Acisa complaint That kind of specific quotes “take advantage of the work that takes place throughout the year” to boost the people and capture visits. And they also do so by taking advantage of the high season and “the best locations” of the town in exchange for “minimum or null taxes for the benefits they get.” “The rates that pay for occupying public roads are in many cases symbolic, ridiculous or non -existent,” Crows. In summary, merchants and hoteliers feel that the fairs stand up during the high season while they are responsible for serving, paying rent and taxes and generating employment in the town throughout the year. “In addition they do not always comply with the basic regulations, such as the issuance of purchase tickets, nor are they subject to health, labor or fiscal controls. They do not generate employment in the municipality and use municipal services such as works, hooks of light or cleanliness, which we pay all ribadenses,” Pérez argueswho also clarifies that these celebrations “do not contribute anything new” to customers. “The products and services they offer can be found in local businesses with higher quality.” The debate, served. That in general (not only in ribadeo) the markets, festivals and gastronomic parties They attract people It is difficult to discuss. The key to Acisa is when and how they are celebrated. And especially the impact they have on small businesses entrenched in the town. Hence they speak of a “direct unfair competition” for entrepreneurs who do assume fixed expenses, taxes and “normative obligations” that, denounce, “are not always assumed by the organizers” of that kind of appointments. “They seek to place themselves in the moments of greater tourist influx in ribadeo, taking advantage of the previous effort and investment made by the sector to attract visitors to the town,” insists The collective. Moreover, in its report it warns that “in many cases” specific events “lack clear planning” and transparency, which can compromise “the tourist image” of Ribadeo. “Prioritize improvised and very poor quality activities compared to the value of trade and local hospitality.” What do they suggest then? In Your report Acisa demands “order, regulate and compatible” these events with the “legitimate interests” of the merchants and hoteliers of the town. They even speak directly of limiting authorizations to “protect the local economic fabric”, restricting permits for those appointments that enter direct competition with local businesses or extend for too many days or repeatedly in the same year. Aware that fairs, festivals and markets help to boost the town, even suggests rethink the calendar of the celebrations. What in practice translates into organizing them “preferably” outside the high season or dates in which the flow of customers, such as Holy Week, summer or Christmas months, “when local trade and hospitality already make an extraordinary effort to meet the demand.” “We don’t need them”. “Ribadeo does not need this type of event in high season. We consider that they can be held promptly in low season following the premises collected by the report prepared by Acisa,” its president concludesCarmen Cruzado. The group leaves out the bag, yes, the events of a solidarity and non -profit nature and those with a limited duration, a … Read more

The hoteliers promised them happy with the huge business of the terraces. Until the new antitabaco law arrived

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Spain is a country of Terraceum. It was before and it is much more (if possible) now, with the memory of the COVID-19 still present and while the country gradually becomes a huge tourist power that is on its way to the 100 million visitors foreigners The hoteliers have not been oblivious to that pull and have turned the terraces into a fundamental part of their turnover, especially in summer. Now they fear that THE NEW ANTITABACE LAW put it in danger. Goodbye, terraces (with smoke). The government wants the roads of the tobacco industry and the hospitality industry to pass separately. Completely. In 2006 there was a first step in that direction with the Law 28/200515 years ago progress was made with a Legislative reform And now the Executive wants to make another movement that would completely banish the smoke from the bars terraces. This is expected by the legislative draft that He has just received the approval of the Council of Ministers, a document that still has a parliamentary route ahead (in fact it does not even guarantee its approval in the lower house), but that has already done Jump alarms Among the hoteliers of the country. Of bars, cigarettes and vapers. Although it does not collect All changes to those who aspired by the Ministry of Health, The new regulations It is clear in two key aspects. First, in equating electronic cigarettes to conventional tobacco. Second, at the time of veto That people smoke (or vapee) on the terraces. Moreover, the department of Mónica García has not stayed there and advocates a sharp prohibition of tobacco in “closed public spaces and an expanded list of exterior environments”, among which includes all those enclosures in which shows, sports facilities, parks, transport stations, educational centers and (of course) are the tables that the bars take out abroad. Pending jobenes. It is not the only thing that the government has in mind, which aspires that adolescents find it even more difficult to hook themselves. The new standard not only restricts the sale of tobacco (and the rest of the products that the law quotes, such as electronic cigarettes) to minors, but directly forbids smoking. It also veto any advertising and demands a more precise labeling, although it leaves out the generic packaging that doctors ask. “A severe threat”. The proposal has not liked the hoteliers, who have not taken long to warn of the coup that will be advised by the ban. The collective He raised his voice Already on the same Monday (after the Council of Ministers gave its placet to the draft law) to question the effectiveness of the norm and remember that today smokers and non -smokers live in the terraces without problem. “It goes against the hoteliers, not against tobacco. On our terraces there has always been a peaceful coexistence and with respect to people who do not want to smoke,” claims José Luis Álvarez, president of the hospitality of Spain, on the bill. It is not the only voice in the sector that points in that direction. The employer Otea, hospitality and tourism in Asturias, insists In his “resounding rejection” to the veto and warns that the new restriction represents “a severe threat” for business. What do they argue? The hoteliers wield several arguments. The main one is that they believe that the law will condemn smokers to closed private spaces, such as houses, and stir a problem (in their opinion) non -existent. “There is currently a good coexistence between smokers and non -smokers on the terraces,” claims The employer, who claims to have a 40DB study that shows that 56% of Spaniards do not believe urgent to prohibit tobacco on the terraces. Moreover, a large majority (82.5%) He is convinced that customers will continue to smoke in the immediate vicinity, “hindering the work” of those who work in the bars. Camareros … and police. Another of their fears is how tourists will fit the veto, customers who may not know the ban when they feel on a terrace and take a cigarette. “It will generate special confusion among the millions of tourists visiting Spain every year, a country where the tourism sector represents one of the main economic motors,” They censor. The president of the hospitality of Spain, José Luis Álvarez, is even more graphic and warns that the waiters will have to “make police”, warning the clients of the ban. Looking at Europe.. “There is only one country throughout Europe where smoking is not allowed, Sweden. And we are going to be Spain, that we have more tables and more chairs than all Europe, which prohibit smoking from tourists on our terraces,” regretted Yesterday the sector leader in an interview with four. The association recalls that when France decided Give yourself with standards To restrict tobacco he opted for “Exclude expressly“The terraces not to damage their economy. The norm French aspires to get “the first generation without tobacco”, so the smoke will veto in outdoor spaces, such as beaches, gardens, marques and playgrounds, but leaves out the electronic cigarettes and does not play the chairs and tables that their hoteliers place outside their establishments. The value of a terrace. The speed and forcefulness with which the hoteliers have come out to show their discomfort is not surprising. On the contrary, it confirms a reality: the enormous weight that the terraces have been acquired in the accounts of the bars and restaurants. There are several factors that explain it. One, key, is the antitabaco standard that has been applied so far and its interior restrictions, but others are added, such as the effect of the pandemic or the policies adopted by Some municipalities What have reduced tax burden of the terraces. The result is that the terraces have been expanding through the squares, streets and sidewalks of the cities, a growth that has sometimes generated friction with the neighbors. In Sevillewhere at least in 2023 there were around 1,300 businesses With evenings, the … Read more

The hoteliers promised them happy in a summer of record tourism. Until the ghost reserves arrived

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During the summer the restaurants receive Anything else What tourists, reserves and customers eager for a meal that puts the perfect icing on your vacation. In addition to all that they receive seedlings. For a long time and for the despair of the hoteliers it is common for the high season to increase the ‘Ghost reservations’a phenomenon that is carrying the business economy and has already forced them to Adopt measures. After all, it directly affects its profitability. Ghost reservations? Yes. Maybe it sounds weird, but they are nothing new and certainly have little mysterious for hoteliers, their great victims. The ‘ghost reservations’ are reservations Fallutas that leave a hole in the dining rooms (and the accounts) of the restaurants: a client calls, reserve table for two, three, four diners (may even more) and then it does not appear. Not just that. Nor does it call in advance to warn, so that the business only has the option of filling your hole with another client, something that is not always possible. The Anglo -Saxons call it ‘No-Shows’ and against what may seem affect All kinds of premises: From taverns to Michelin star restaurants, in which those vacancies can translate into a hole in hundreds of euros. It happens frequently? Depends. If we talk about socks and take as a reference the whole sector and the year is not a especially serious problem. At least so shows the Thefork platform, which recently elaborated A study about “ghost reserves”. According to their records, between January and July there was not a single month in which No-Shows They were more than 3.4% of the total reservations. It is a low fact and also reveals a slight descent with respect to last year. If we ask certain hoteliers, the thing changes. A few days ago The voice of Galicia interviewed to the owners of a marswish from Santiago de Compostela who claimed to be receiving “more plants than ever.” And it is not the only business that complains. Another hospitaler of the city speaks of up to six No-Shows A day. In Segovia there are also professionals who They lament of customers who leave them lying without giving explanations (or with pilgrim justifications) after commissioning roasts and the newspaper Minorca It echoed In August of the discomfort of some businesses on the island. “It is a problem, almost in each shift there are cancellations. You are called and they tell you that they are on the beach or that they have left elsewhere and decide to stay,” Antoni Sansaloni, representative of the Menorcan Sector Association, censorship. Is there more data? Yes. Thefork wanted to scratch a little to know details of the phenomenon, which has given us Two interesting perspectives: The first is its geographical distribution; The second, its causes. According to their data, the province most harmed by No-Shows It is Segovia, where they are 5% of the total reservations. They are followed by Menorca and Ibiza, with 4.2% and 4% respectively. In the opposite pole are Biscay (2.5%), A Coruña and Murcia, where the percentage remains at 2.7%. As for the causes, Thefork Point out Basically three. 55% of respondents say they do not appear to reservations for disasters and forgetfulness. 38% argue that if they have left hanging restaurants it has been for “unforeseen” that have also prevented them from warning. And 7% allege that they don’t call to cancel reservations for “shame.” Hoteliers have a somewhat different perspective and They warn that there are customers who reserve in several restaurants simultaneously. Are they a serious problem? The platform calculates that it carries losses that can go Between 5 and 20%depending on the type of business. “The problem is that they make you a roast reserve, that you have to prepare the pig, and that remains in the kitchen,” comment to The advance From a Segovian grill. “It affects us little, but when they make us a big reserve and fail, they destroy us,” agrees Another professional. The complaint is extensible to restaurants with Michelin stars that also They have been found With large groups that do not present or cancel the reservation, “a task” for those responsible, who usually work with closed menus and buy fresh product based on scheduled services. If a customer does not present the business does not recover the investment. Does summer influence? Yes. It is easily confirmed with a quick search on Google. Hoteliers who complain about No-Shwos They usually point out also that the problem is aggravated during the high season, coinciding with the increase in tourism. It is not surprising if one takes into account that restaurants reserves in general. “The rest of the year does not usually happen. The people here are usually always going to the reservation,” Explain A place in Santiago de Compostela. From Segovia Apostillan Also that ghost reserves are noticed above all on weekends “more pointers”, in which they receive especially visitors from the capital. “We are the dining room of Madrid and these issues are accentuated above all on weekends or the bridges in which many people come.” “During the summer months, reserves in the restaurants in tourist areas increase considerably due to the presence of travelers, both national and international. As a result, in this period the non-shows grow exponentially,” They corroborate From the Thefork platform. And can it be avoided? If not to eradicate it to 100%, the sector has moved file to reduce at least the impact of ghost reserves on their businesses. It is increasingly frequent to meet restaurants requesting a card number such as guarantee or deposits or directly do not accept reservations. Thefork herself decided Some time ago Take letters in the matter and expel those users who accumulate a number of frustrated reserves throughout the year, a measure that adds to those that had already been applying before, such as prohibiting multi reservations for the same day. Perhaps the best known case of a ghost reserve that came to … Read more

The data is at maximum, the hoteliers insist that there is crisis

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On their way to become The Great Resort From Europe, the Spanish tourism sector has encountered an unexpected dilemma: receives Many visitorsmany. So many in fact that he walks towards the barrier of the 100 million travelers International, but … does that translate into more money for hotels, restaurants and other businesses that live from tourism? In the hospitality they begin to rise voices that warn that no, a complaint that sounds with special strength in one of the most busy (and iconic) destinations throughout the country: Mallorca. And that is a problem. Accustomed to records. Talking about tourism in Spain for a long time is to make it of great figures. Even records. In 2024 the country He pulverized his brand of foreign visitors, this year aspires to overcome the barrier of one hundred million And there is studies that predict that in the medium term, by 2040, Spain will be the great ‘resort’ of the world, surpassing in an influx of tourists iconic destinations such as France, the United States or Italy. And the reality is that The data of demand that leave observatories such as the INE point in that direction. A growing sector. The information we have is still incomplete and there is a lot of year ahead, especially if we take into account that Christmas has gained weight as Tourist active In much of Spain, but the first data suggests that in 2025 the sector is maintaining its good streak. According to the INE tables, between January and July The country’s hotels hosted 67.1 million visitors (sum of national and foreign), 1.2% more than last year, which was already a good exercise for the sector. Overnight stays have also increased. And how is summer going? Promises. In July the flow of Spanish travelers grew by 1%, that of non -residents 2.1% and in general the hotels dispatched 1.8% more overnight that in the same month of 2024. The rates also respond well: the hotel price index grew up last month last month 5% in annual rate. The above are data that reflect only the “hotel establishments”, so they leave other accommodations with an important weight in the sector, but serve to have an initial idea of ​​how the campaign is evolving. Fantastic, right? Yes. And no. INE data reflect a growth trend, but over the last weeks voices have been heard They warn that the greatest influx of tourists is not always accompanied by a greater expense in hotels, restaurants, agencies, excursions and other sectors that feed on tourism. Although in June the INE did identify a sensitive increase (+5.5%) In the total expenditure of foreign tourists, a Google search arrives to understand that the photo in July is more diffuse or, at least, it changes from one region to another. Yesterday Vigo lighthouse explained How the main city of Galicia continues to earn visitors, although these are left less money in business. It is not something that happens only there. A few days ago We told you How in San Juan de Luz, in the French Basque Country, hoteliers are receiving a change in travelers’ habits, more and more given to make their own pícnics instead of going to eat at restaurants. In A statement released yesterday by hospitality in Spain, its president slides some data that, although confirming that the summer campaign is not being bad, it does not reach the forecasts of the industry. Businesses had their box 5% grow. And everything points that it will not be so. “Without meeting expectations”. “It is a good summer for tourism, but without meeting the expectations we had marked and the forecast we had with the first months of the year. It is true that we have more foreign tourists, it is true that there is a very considerable volume of tourists, but there is a change of trend. The average ticket in our establishments is going down,” José Almeida reflectsresponsible for hospitality in Spain, for whom this trend is explained by several factors, such as gradualization of national tourism, the increase in the cost of life or the influence of Tourist flats. Earrings from Mallorca. If there is a collective that is noticeable that summer is not marching as expected is that of the hoteliers of Mallorca. The Regional newspaper Last minuteBased in Palma, has published A good number of articles in which It echoes of the restlessness of the sector. In July the Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca (FEHM) warned of a puncture in the tourist influx in certain areas, especially in Capdepera and Sóller, and the president of Mallorca Caeb restoration even I went one step further: “This year will close hundreds of restaurants in Mallorca.” According to Your calculationson the island there are areas that have seen how the volume of diners collapsed a forceful 40%, which has even forced some restaurants to holiday their waiters in full high season. WELCOME, “Diesel tourists”. They are not the only comments that are heard in one of the great tourist destinations in Spain. Tourist transport refers A 20% drop in July and August, the Balearic Islands indicate a similar decrease in hiring excursions and nightlife speaks of lower collections in northern Mallorca or even Magaluf. “In Mallorca we have diesel tourists: they walk a lot and spend little,” Ironiza Recently Pepe lying, from CURTURthe Association of Tourist Merchants and Businessmen of Mallorca. What do the figures say? That something happens in Mallorca. Aena already gave a first clue when publishing her Traffic balance of July, which in a context of general growth wrote down a stagnation in the volume of palm passengers, with -0.1% less of traffic that during the same month last year. And now the most recent INE data on hotel occupancy corroborates it: in July the influx of travelers on the island of Mallorca fell a slight 1.22% and overnight stays 0.35%. The setback was more accentuated in Palma, while if we talked about the set of the … Read more

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