Year-long recovery for hotels

NURIA Montes, general secretary of HOSBEC, the hoteliers association, is proposing that the tourism sector – specifically hotel and accommodation companies in Benidorm are given up to a one-year protection plan to enable them to enter into a ´hibernation phase to recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

The association believes it will take anything up to 12 months to fully recover and that they are asking the government, unions, public and private sectors and business associations to participate in the creation of a special scheme for the protection of the Spanish tourism sector.

Citing Covid-19 as a f´orce majeure, an event that could not be reasonably anticipated or controlled, HOSBEC are suggesting that temporary lay-offfs (ERTEs) should be extended for up to 12 months to protect workers.

They accept that some establishments may be able to start operating earlier, but the health and safety of employees and guests in paramount and as such they must not reopen until safe conditions can be guaranteed, which would be assessed on an individual basis.

Communication is paramount throughout and a clear message must be transmitted, that the resort will reopen when it is safe to do so. Promotion and advertising needs to be innovative with clear messages and tour operators will play an integral part in the recovery of the market.

Easyjet plans

EasyJet expects to keep its middle seats empty when it resumes flying to enable social distancing and encourage passengers to fly after the coronavirus pandemic recedes - hence. passengers would sit in window and aisle seats having an empty seat between them. The group's planes were grounded on March 30, but it said more than half of disrupted passengers had chosen vouchers or alternative flights, meaning that bookings for winter are 'well ahead' of the previous year.