• Although unlikely to reach precovid levels, at an Industry Conference in Alicante, the hostelry sector and analysts predict a rapid rebound in tourism

The most realistic scenario predicted by the tourism sector contemplates that some normality will be restored to the industry by the start of the summer, between June and July, once the health situation has stabilised, following the vaccination program that is schedule in Spain and in the main client countries of the United Kingdom or Germany, and mobility between autonomous regions and the rest of Europe is restored.

This is what Nuria Montes, General Secretary of the hotel association of the Costa Blanca and Valencia Hosbec, said on Monday. Along with other experts, Montes attended a conference “To return to return. A recipesfor recovery”, organised by Alicante Gastronómica at the Institución Ferial Alicantina (IFA).

On both a face-to-face and a virtual basis, Alicante Gastronómica brought together a large group of specialists from the economic, hospitality, gastronomy and tourism fields, in a conference in which, industry bosses discussed the new challenges they face after the pandemic.

At the conference they were pledged the full support of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and the Chambers of Commerce in the Community who said they will do whatever they can to “support the hospitality industry and show that it is one of the main industry’s that the province offers.”

Nine months after the start of the health emergency, experts, including Emilio Ontiveros and Montes herself, said that they are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, and as long as the vaccination schedules are met the situation will only improve. Both agreed that the reactivation of tourism would occur quickly, once the restrictions are lifted.

“Because it is a well-valued sector and because people will once again have a desire to travel,” Emilio Ontiveros said that, “given the positioning of Alicante tourism and hospitality in the national scene, the government has to take advantage of the opportunity that it now has following the arrival of European funds, in order to provide whatever support the tourism sector needs.”