Quote: ‘Conditions of holidays have barely evolved. A reformulation of prices and concept is needed to make them viable and attractive’
Hotels in Spain have been pulling out of the Imserso winter holiday programme – citing it isn’t worth their while.
Over the current low season a paltry 20 hotels in the Balearics are participating in the Imserso programme of subsidised holidays for Spain’s senior citizens. This is exactly half the number that were involved in 2019-2020.
Hotels are paid under the Imserso scheme just €23.50 per tourist per night, full board but hoteliers have been complaining for years that they don’t receive enough.
Hotels in 2022 have dropped out of the scheme because of their increased costs, which would have made Imserso even less profitable than previously. It is said that the hotels which are open for Imserso, will be operating at a loss.
In Mallorca, there are just 10 hotels, five of them in Arenal, with numbers likely to decrease further for the 2023-2024 season.
The Spanish government hasn’t increased the funding for Imserso holidays in its 2023 budget.
The executive vice-president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, María José Aguiló, said: “The participation of Balearic hotel companies will inevitably be reduced, due to the growing gap between prices and costs.
“The conditions of these holidays have barely evolved since the programme was first introduced.
“A reformulation of prices and concept is needed to make them viable and attractive.”
Balearic tourism minister, Iago Negueruela, has met the secretary of state for social rights to call for a higher quality Imserso offer.
Also on the agenda is for improved terms for hotels in the Balearics, which are being penalised insofar that they pay higher salaries than in any other Spanish region.
This disadvantage is now reflected in a lack of interest for a programme that costs hotels more than they receive.
* Imserso holidays are the responsibility of Spain’s ministry of social rights and not the tourism ministry.
