Hotel occupancy in Costa Daurada reaches 78% in September
According to the latest data from the Tourism Studies Foundation in Costa Dorada, the hotel occupancy on the Costa Dorada in September reached 78%, three points below on the same period last year
'Given the current period of recession, is not so bad having dropped only three points, "said Vice President of Hotel Association Salou-Cambrils-La Pineda, Juan Antonio Padron, who emphasized that, during this September there have been 'good' last minute offers that have positively influenced on the employment registered.
Although exact figures are not known, the fall in prices has caused the turnover obtained during this September by hotels in Costa Dorada has also been lower than last year. As pointed out by Mr. Padron, good deals 'have made it possible that people could take vacations', but the turnover has been harmed.
The vice-president of the Hotel Association Salou-Cambrils-La Pineda believes that the September figures are not entirely negative but acknowledges that the sector is 'not happy' and there is still room for improvement.
Re: Hotel occupancy in Costa Daurada during September
What one should do, is read between the lines to understand what is happening at the moment.
The hotels achieve reasonably good occupancy numbers by what they call "aggressive campaigning and pricing"
What does that mean? They offer full board or all-inclusive for between 20 and 25 euros a night, where normally they wouldn't charge less than 75 euros.
The result: especially the quality of the food and the service to the client are suffering, because they are the only areas where they can still save money. Therefore we get more dissatisfied holidaymakers who will think twice about returning to Salou.
Add Ryanair to the equation and we will see a new kind of client in the streets of Salou. The only place they will spend some money is the tobacconist (remember, the food and drink is paid for in the hotel), so all the bars and restaurants will suffer (as we seen in the last few months)
Solution? I don't really know, but lowering the prices to the level where you barely cover cost is NOT the way to go IMHO
