Costa Del Sol Finally Opens to Vaccinated Tourists

COSTA DEL SOL finally opens to vaccinated tourists. The Costa del Sol will open tomorrow Monday, June 7,  to tourists who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, a measure that is part of the decision of the central government to open borders and that hoteliers in the area. They consider that it should be accompanied by “reciprocity” in the issuing countries, as highlighted by the executive vice president of the Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos), Javier Hernández.
The news has been well received by the sector, but for the moment it has not had an impact on hotel reservations on the Costa del Sol, especially regarding the decision of the United Kingdom Government to maintain Spain at the amber traffic light. Hernández has pointed out that Spain is a “receiving country” of travellers, so he understands that “there must be a reciprocity of opening the borders to welcome tourists”, for which he has considered that the measure “is not enough” and “it is necessary for the issuing countries to open.” Otherwise, “we are doing the job at 50%”, said the businessman, who pointed out that “there have been no great advances or great changes” in reserves, the main issuers now being Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Nordic countries, Poland or Hungary to a lesser extent.
The weight of the British market in the tourism sector of the Costa del Sol marks this juncture, since the fact of remaining Spain at the amber traffic light is an “impediment” to travel, since tourists must quarantine upon their return to the UK and undergo two PCR tests, which “increases the cost of the trip.” In this sense, he recalled that this segment “accounted for 27% of operations in 2019” and has an impact on “the international total of more than 60% in some of the hotel establishments”.
As reported by Malaga Hoy, the director of the five-star Gran Lujo Los Monteros hotel, in Marbella, Fernando Al-Farkh, has pointed out that reservations “are improving little by little for the summer”, with “moderate growth” due to events such as “The opening of the Spanish borders, the German market, which is beginning to function, or the French”, but has specified that the sector is “very aware of the British market, which is the one on which the Costa del Sol depends”.