Eastern Europeans bring €13m to Roquetas de Mar

VISITORS from Eastern European countries brought more than €13 million to Roquetas de Mar last year.

The first campaign to promote Roquetas de Mar in Eastern Europe has been a success, according to local Tourism Councillor, Angel Mollinedo, who reported that between 14,000 and 15,000 people from the area visited the town over the past year.

This is mainly thanks to six weekly direct flights to Almeria from countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Iceland and Slovakia, which earned local hotels €4.5 million, as well as a further €7 million for other businesses in the area.

The outlook for this year is even better, as the number of flights has increased to 15 and the number of visitors is hoped to double. Plus, Roquetas will be promoted as a tourist destination in other areas such as Sweden, Italy and Romania.

Mollinedo also said that an agreement will be closed next month with another tour operator to promote the area in Russia and the Ukraine.

At the last plenary meeting, left-wing party Izquierda Unida suggested the creation of a local tourism board to represent social organizations and tourism companies, including hotels.

The proposal was rejected by the conservative Partido Popular, who said that such a body already exists in the recently created Tourism Promoters Association. Meanwhile the Socialist Party demanded that the local beaches be improved, especially regarding sewage, as some areas had flooded recently.

The PP said measures were already being taken to solve this problem and others.