The hoteliers of the city of Valencia have warned this Monday of the “discomfort” and “uncertainty” that the sector is experiencing in the face of “the negative forecasts for the next quarter of the year”. In this sense, they have warned that the rise in energy costs, raw materials and inflation, which stands at 10.8% they make the viability of more than 48% of the city’s premises “very difficult”.
That is why from Hostelería Valencia, the Business Federation of Hospitality of Valencia, have requested the central Executive and the Valencian government to “apply measures such as reductions in energy rates of the catering establishments to face this unstoppable rise in costs”, as well as to take into account the situation that the sector is going through.
Similarly, they have requested a meeting with the Minister of Finance and Economic Model, Arcadi Spain, to expose and analyze the “delicate situation” of the hospitality industry and “to be able to address solutions according to the context facing the sector”.
As they explain, the measures that were taken as a strategy to contain inflation, such as the rise in prices on cards, “it has not been enough to alleviate this constant increase in costs” and “the margins are increasingly reduced”. “For companies in the catering sector, expenses have meant an increase of 50% compared to the general levelas shown by the latest CPI data” say the Valencian hoteliers.
“Many premises have been forced to rethink the closure of establishments due to the high figures of the bills they have had to face at the end of the month. Studies by economists specialized in the sector indicate a high percentage of closures, some of the theses reaching up to 75% of premises that would lower the blind” they point out.
Driving sector of the economy
In this sense, they assure that to this cost situation it is necessary to add that “the family capital available is less and less and therefore, months are expected with a notable decrease in customerssince the economy in the families when being resentful, what it will do without in the first place will be the consumption of restaurants and leisure”.
They also explain that Easter and summer campaigns have allowed many companies to survive because “consumption was motivated by the holiday stages”, but that “the context is worsening and we are entering a situation that is even more detrimental to the continuity of the hospitality business”
“We must bear in mind that our gastronomic heritage must be safeguarded. Since the pandemic began, we have been in the crosshairs of governments and we have to say enough is enough, we are a tractor sector of the economy that cannot be diluted like sugar in coffee. There are many years of effort by many families to maintain this business fabric that is so important for tourism” they conclude.
