'The British are abandoning our destination'

Hoteliers and the unions are forecasting a bad winter for the tourist industry on the Costa del Sol.

The low season has started with the prediction that 40% of the hotels on the coast will close for the winter, 5% more than last year. Union CCOO notes that last hear there were 22 ERE temporary redundancy agreements in Málaga province as a consequence of hotel closures, and that all indications are there will be more this year.

20,000 fewer visitors are expected, given the continued lower number of British visitors and a cut back in the Imserso Spanish pensioners’ holiday scheme. Some experts in the sector are expecting the poorest winter since 1993.

Following a good summer the President of the Costa del Sol Hoteliers Association, AEHCOS, José Carlos Escribano, told La Opinión de Málaga that  ‘The British market is abandoning our destination. A drop in occupancy was noted at the end of the summer, and it does not seem that there is any view of a good winter’.

Source: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27388.shtml#ixzz11Zh9bfgx