hostelería

Hostelería de Compostela has made public a report in which it shows the specific weight of the tourist sector in the Galician capital to call the attention on the measures adopted by the different public administrations to face the crisis caused by the COVID-19 that, in his opinion, are insufficient. Estimating that the weight that this sector represents in Compostela is 20% of its GDP, the Compostela hoteliers make an assessment of the measures taken to date – postponement of payments and contributions to Social Security, tax relief or concession of ERTES, among the most prominent – considering that they are short-term measures that do not guarantee the viability of many companies but what they do is postpone the problem.

For this reason, this report includes a series of measures of different scope. In labour matters, they request the elimination of the obligation to maintain the jobs in the company that is the object of ERTE for 6 months due to a greater force, if not that the personnel is maintained according to the capacity and the phase in which the opening in the different premises is authorized. They also request an “express line” of regulation and adaptation of employment, subsidized payment of permits and voluntary leave as well as non-refundable aid for maintaining jobs.

The report also criticises the operation of the ICO and IGAPE credit lines, rejecting the criterion that the granting of this aid or the time limits for repayment of the loan, which they consider to be short, should be left to the decision of the financial institutions. Furthermore, they consider that IGAPE credit lines are granted to healthy and strong companies, not to those in the greatest distress, and therefore request that the criteria for granting this aid be reviewed.

Master plan for municipal economic recovery
The report also includes a framework proposal for the Santiago de Compostela City Council with different initiatives for the reactivation of the municipal economy, paying special attention to the tourist sector, which they consider is not being given enough attention by the council. Among the measures proposed, the report includes a request for compensation of municipal taxes for the time that businesses are closed or a proportional part in the case that the reopening occurs with limited capacity conditions. This measure would affect taxes such as rubbish, terraces, supply and sanitation or property tax. In addition, a reduction of these taxes is requested for 2021 and a temporary suspension of the regulations on terraces, without forgetting the request for a specific promotional campaign and an increase in direct aid, in addition to the fact that the hotel sector will be involved in the decisions taken in this respect, both on the sector and on the Way of Saint James, “these are times of courage and leadership that the hostelry would deposit in the government of the city and especially in its mayor”, they state.

Specific actions for tourism in Santiago.
Finally the report values as insufficient the package of measures presented by the city council for the activities of the departments of Tourism and Culture, so they request a modification of the budget of INCOLSA and a battery of measures to greater of those presented between which they suggest the implantation of actions of positioning on line of the destiny, creation of a professional forum, reactivation of the sector MICE, as well as a study of the behavior of near markets, a promotional campaign of Santiago like healthy urban destiny and the design of an offer culture and of leisure of low impact. Likewise, they request the reinforcement of the Santiago(e)tapas and the Conxo Banquet and the reformulation of the tourist and leisure activities that are held in the second semester of the year or the launching of other new ones adapted to the new circumstances.

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