The hoteliers, hoteliers and tourism managers of the Community are looking to the sky these first days of Holy Week, waiting for a rebound in the forecasts with the permission of the meteorology. According to the hotel association Hosbec, confirmed reservations so far show 70% occupancy until April 1, Easter Monday.
Likewise, they hope to increase the numbers with last-minute reservations on the key days of this Holy Week, mainly starting on March 28, Holy Thursday. In Benidorm, the employers' association points out, reservations are “behind” the norm with 69.5% occupancy, although the tourist apartment association of the Valencian Community, Aptur CV, paints a more optimistic landscape: the tourist capital can reach 90% occupancy if reservations from the last few days are confirmed. Benidorm once again leads the Easter reservations in the tourist housing sector of the Valencian Community and they explain that it is due to the increase in reservations from foreign tourists, mostly from the British and German market and also national tourists. In general, the entity foresees an 80% average occupancy during Holy Week throughout the Valencian Community.
Meanwhile, the province of Castellón is the one that shows the greatest rebound in the hotel sector, making a jump starting on Holy Thursday, going from 60.2% to 75.1%, with destinations such as Peñíscola and Castelló de la Plana among 68% and 70% occupancy. Likewise, the figures inside are below these percentages.
Thus, occupancy for the Valencian interior according to the Temps de Interior association - a brand belonging to Turisme Comunitat Valenciana - will reach 58% occupancy in this first section, increasing to 61% occupancy in the central days of the holidays. In this entity they hope to be able to increase reservations up to 77% occupancy, especially with last-minute clients for the weekend, when the holiday coincides both in the Valencian Community and in the Community of Madrid, where good part of its tourists.
However, they assume that increasing these occupancy percentages will depend on how the weather evolves today, tomorrow and the next day, given the uncertainty, they launch proposals with which to differentiate themselves to win over a particularly restless tourist. Thus, they propose rafting, kayaking or paintball activities in the Cabriel Valley, a weekend of rest and massages in the Alicante mountains with views of Guadalest, a wine tourism visit to the Caudete de las Fuentes wineries or the Moixent farmhouses, where the Minister of Agriculture, José Luis Aguirre, was yesterday to highlight the agrotourism initiatives that represent “a boost to rural development and generational change in the inland regions” of the Valencian Community.
Aguirre visited the Origen project, which focuses on the rehabilitation of farmhouses, sustainable agriculture and local commerce, promoting people's roots in their territory. In this case, the rehabilitation is combined with the production and sale of its own wines and oils, guided routes through the history of the region, informative days and accommodation and rural restaurants.
A different offer that competes with the appeal of the sun and the beach, especially this week of not very good weather forecasts. “If you don't work indoors during Easter, dedicate yourself to something else,” Joaquín Deusdad, president of Temps de Interior, reflects humorously. Manager of a hotel in Cinctorres, he explains that this week there is a trickle of clients - "we are between 40 and 50%" - until the bulk of travelers arrive on the weekend, when it will have 100% occupancy.
“In the interior you can see from motorcyclists who take the route of silence to people who take hiking routes, but in general they seek disconnection. There is a great disconnection,” details the businessman. Holy Week opens a good period for indoor establishments, explains Deusdad. This process is also influenced by the CV Travel Bonus which allows, in months of low tourist influx, such as April, May or June, these inland stays to be an “important lifeline for the sector.”
