Six European countries approved 40 billion euros to help the hospitality sector, which has been greatly affected by covid-19.
At a time when the second wave of covid-19 has emerged in European countries, aid to finance the hotel and catering sector is essential. In large European countries such as Italy, France and Germany, tourism represents up to 7% of their GDP. Other countries such as Luxembourg, Romania or the Netherlands are following the same dynamic. According to Competur, total national aid in Europe to support this sector amounts to almost 40 billion euros.
In Spain, says Competur, “a specific support plan has still not been approved despite the fact that, due to the crisis, the hotel and catering sector is facing an unprecedented fall for months“. According to the note from Competur, more than 65,000 hotel businesses have closed their doors. Not satisfied with this, up to 100,000 more businesses are at risk. In terms of jobs, 350,000 jobs have been lost. In addition, turnover in the sector has fallen by more than 50 % compared to the previous year.
Germany and the Netherlands are the countries that have given the most aid to the sector. The amounts amount to 10 000 and 15 000 euros respectively.
Café in Rotterdam | Photo Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
They are followed by France, where more than 6 billion euros are spent on bars and restaurants. For its part Italy, did its best to approve the aid for the sector without delay more than a week. Smaller countries like Luxembourg have approved support measures without having completely closed down the establishments in the sector.
The situation in Spain: 8.5 billion euros are needed to save the sector
For its part, Juntos con la Hostelería warned that Spain would need 8,500 million euros to stop the collapse of the sector. If support measures are not adopted, the sector could lose more than 1 million jobs. In addition to losing a third of the hospitality establishments, meaning 100 000 venues.
Bar in Madrid | Photo Mary Rebecca Elliott on Unsplash
It is expected that in the coming weeks, answers will be obtained from Spanish MEPs after a series of meetings with the Competur alliance. These meetings are intended to convey the need for member countries to compensate the hotel industry. This would be done with direct aid to save the sector.
In Spain, the hospitality sector represents 6.2% of the GDP and employs 1.7 million people. According to data from 2019, the sector contributes around 17,500 million euros to the state’s public coffers.
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