Businessmen in the catering and nightlife sector in Catalonia are optimistic during the Easter campaign. The sector forecasts a "record" turnover, which would range between 10% and 15% more than that registered in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
Between the nights of Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday, locals expect to bill 200% more than on a normal weekend, despite the price increase and the difficulties in the sector to find qualified personnel.
The most benefited will be those in the coastal areas, which will have an average occupancy of 90% during the four main nights, a figure slightly higher than the Catalan average, which will be over 80%. In interior areas, occupancy will be around 70%.
The large flow of people who have chosen to spend the holidays in destinations on the Costa Brava, the Costa Daurada, the Maresme and even the city of Barcelona explain the good expectations of the sector.
In Barcelona, the locals will depend to a large extent on tourism, since part of the local population chooses to leave the city these days. Even so, businessmen hope to be close to full occupancy, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
In destinations on the Costa Brava, such as Castell-Platja d'Aro and S'Agaró, one of the main tourist destinations in the Baix Empordà region, they anticipate that occupancy in restaurants and leisure venues will approach 100% on those two days.
According to data from the president of the Hotel, Restaurant and Leisure Association of Castell-Platja d'Aro and S'Agaró, Jordi Díaz, hotel occupancy will be around 70% on non-holiday days and 95% on other days . The majority of the clientele will be national and French tourism, although a large part of the public that visits these days will not stay overnight in any accommodation.
On the Costa Dorada, the large influx of national and foreign visitors that will be received this week will allow the opening of most premises. The president of the Salou Restaurant and Nightlife Association and the Provincial Restaurant and Nightlife Association, Eduardo Abenójar, hopes to reach between 90% and 95% occupancy on public holidays.
"We need billing peaks to recover from the two blank seasons that we experienced during the pandemic," explains Abenójar, who points out that 2022 was already a "very good year", which he hopes will "equal or slightly exceed."
All restaurants and nightlife venues will have extended hours, from the night of Holy Thursday to the early hours of Easter Monday, which will oscillate between half an hour more or 45 minutes depending on the type of venue.
Recreational activities in bars, restaurants, restaurant-bars, music bars, music restaurants, concert halls, theater cafés, concert cafés and banquet halls will extend the maximum closing time by another thirty minutes. Discotheques, dance halls and party rooms with shows will enjoy 45 more minutes.
The president of Fecasarm, David López, indicates that the negative notes this year are the difficulties in the sector to find qualified personnel and the price increase "that we have been forced to apply due to the increase in costs." He still predicts a Holy Week with "record billing".
