Imserso trips suspension causes outrage among travel agencies

VALENCIAN travel agencies have voiced their outrage at the appeal made by HOSBEC that has caused the Imserso trips to be temporarily suspended

The Association of Valencian travel agencies, AEVAV, has voiced its outrage at the Costa Blanca hotel employer’s association – HOSBEC – for creating the problem that has resulted in the Imserso trips being temporarily suspended this autumn, after they lodged an appeal at the end of July to the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Appeals (TCARC), against the low prices, and specifications being offered in the scheme.
Miguel Jimenez, the president of AEVAV, told Cadena Ser that travel agencies in the Valencia region now face the prospect of laying staff off, and new ERTE’s from September, if Imserso is indeed delayed, and showed his displeasure at the way in which HOSBEC launched its appeal, when so many jobs depend on the Imserso scheme during the low season.
Mr Jimenez, in a statement to Cadena Ser, pointed out that in his opinion, it would have been a lot better had the association of hotel employees had approached the administration in advance, and sat down and discussed alternative ways of enabling Imserso to continue, to try and reach an agreement, as opposed to making the appeal without taking into account the consequences of that action on travel agencies.
As the AEVAV president pointed out, Imserso trips normally begin each year at the end of September, which is not that many weeks away, and that any delay in a decision to the HOSBEC appeal being made is going to create problems for a lot of the smaller businesses who depend on Imserso, especially even more so now, after the pandemic has hit the sector so badly, and movement within the travel agencies is at a minimum.
He went on to say that there were other formulas to solve the low prices established by the Ministry for Imserso trips, including maybe offering half-board, or accommodation only deals, as opposed to the full board being offered, which straight away lowers the cost to hotels, whereas, if Imserso did get delayed, then travel agencies will only have the third stage of the Generalitat Travel Bonus, which begins in mid-September, and which may boost the sector a bit, although not as much as the Imserso, as reported by cadenaser.com.

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