Entrepreneurs demand a reduction in VAT, tax incentives, direct aids and quick tests to prevent Christmas from being a ruin
Blanca López
With the blocking of antigen tests or rapid tests, without VAT rebates or other tax incentives, without direct aid, and only with credits, basically through the Official Credit Institute (ICO), the tourism sector is talking about monumental losses that could reach 106.000 million euros, according to data from Exceltur, leaving tourism to the level of Spain in 1995.
Currently, only 15% of the hotels are open in Spain, whose capacity has also been reduced to 10%, since this is the percentage of beds that are opened for the traveller. The next Christmas campaign is just around the corner, but without the efficient and commercial bridge of the Constitution and with practically all of Spain with perimeter closure, expectations are not optimistic. For this reason, the sector urges the Government to take action. One of the most talked about is the possibility of practicing rapid antigen tests to give more security to mobility.
The best example of the good response of antigens is the Canary Islands, where tourism had begun to take off before the government decree, which established that PCR is the only valid proof for travelling to Spain from abroad. However, PCRs are not made in all countries of Europe, and are restricted to health workers and patients, as is the case in Germany. In this way, antigen tests are presented as a quick and cheap option to attract foreign and national tourism.
TEAM HLCLUB