Tourism and Benidorm in the face of the economic crisis and the war

Just over 170 people gathered yesterday afternoon in the Assembly Hall of Benidorm City Council to attend the round table 'Perspectives for tourism in 2022, perfect storm?'. Among them the Councilor for Culture, Jaime Jesús Pérez, along with other members of the corporation, the regional deputy, Manuel Pérez Fenoll, and the provincial deputy, José Ramón González de Zárate. There were also present the president of the Debate Forum Germán Bernácer, Pedro Algarra and Ana Mª Bernácer, daughter of the economist, among other representatives of the economic and academic world.

The act was introduced by the professor of Applied Economic Analysis of the University of Alicante (UA), Juan Zabalza, with a discourse on the figure of the economist, accompanied by the director of the Germán Berbácer Chair of the UA and the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Perez. Then the video, 'Germán Bernácer Tormo, the humanist and economist' was shown.

Immediately afterwards, the round table began with the participation of Toni Pérez; the president of the Hotel and Tourism Business Association of the Valencian Community (HOSBEC), Toni Mayor; and the director of Gastrouni and member of the University Institute of Tourism Research of the University of Alicante (UA), Óscar Carrión. The proposals were moderated by the professor of Financial and Tax Law at the UA and the director of Nogueroles Abogados, Vicente Nogueroles.

Perfect storm

In the first place, the term 'perfect storm', with which the meeting was baptized, was studied. Toni Pérez explained that the decision was made "before" the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. All in all, Toni Mayor emphasized that "Benidorm is very resilient and always gets over", giving the example of the return of British tourism after the break caused by the pandemic.

The president of HOSBEC spoke of "seasonality", recalling that "70% of the Benidorm hotels are open all year round", unlike other national destinations, so the situation is "better", in his opinion, in the tourist capital of the Costa Blanca.

Regarding tourism, the problem of the lack of labour in the sector was addressed, before which Carrión advocated a "greater specialization" of companies, transforming them so that they are "more attractive to the people who work in them ”.

Likewise, and highly topical, Óscar Carrión brought up the transport crisis and the current strike in the sector, before which the table considered the need to subsidize the price of fuel for professionals in the sector.

Regarding the city. Nogueroles valued very positively "the improvement of the urban scene" in Benidorm in recent years and Toni Pérez stressed the large investments made by the City Council that "invested eleven million euros" in Avenida del Mediterráneo, "eight of them implemented" in infrastructures such as the storm tank that, during these rainy days, has shown its effectiveness.

The mayor also recalled that Benidorm has "more than 95% use of drinking water" which is "a record in Europe".

Public administrations

The discussion also considered the situation of the long-awaited shopping centre, which despite the investments made by the City Council has not had yet the approval of the regional administration. Or the delay of construction of the Cultural Center. The four speakers valued the actions of the different administrations (local, regional, national and Europe) and "the difficulties", as Mayor pointed out, in reaching agreements.

In this section, the mayor criticized the non-cession by the Government of Spain of the section of the N-332 as it passes through the city, something that it has done with the neighbouring towns of l'Alfàs del Pi and Altea, or the non-inclusion of the 'Benidorm vision 360' project in the Next Generation EU funds, despite "meeting all the requirements" demanded by Europe and the development of sustainability policies in the city that places, for example, the carbon footprint of tourist in it "below that of Costa Rica", a country considered the first in the world in this regard.

The last point discussed at the table returned to tourism, specifically to the hotel plant. Óscar Carrión pointed out "feeling impressed" by the quality of the city. "Benidorm," he said, "is tall, smart and obedient" and showed his optimism for the future, despite the war. The situation of other markets receiving tourists close to the area in dispute was also analyzed and the possibility that this tourist directs his/her gaze to Benidorm.

In the same vein, Toni Mayor added that "our prospects are good", as in the Canary Islands. “We will have volume –he said- later we will see the profitability”. In his last intervention, the mayor showed his optimism regarding the prospects of the sector for this year.