Excursions and events organized by the institution Institute of Elderly and Social Services (Imserso) will start later this year than expected. On Friday, August 25, the last day set for this, the group of companies led by natalia (Seniorplan 2.0), one of the losers competition for the prize of these lots, decided to appeal the government’s decision to hand over the package avians (Cluster Barcelona). This almost guarantees a delay of months compared to what has happened in similar situations in other years.
Without going any further, when a situation like this last needs to be resolved in 2021, sell trips and trips themselves They went from September-October to December-January. And for this example, there are many hotels that are considering closing all of this. low season.
The conflict goes back to that period. Ministry Social rights and Agenda 2030The department responsible for Imserso has published the award decision. In fact, criticism has been heard before about the fact that the tender was made so late and how long it took to evaluate the bids, but three parties Giving it to a single company that created the program set all the alarms off in an industry accustomed to delays whenever it was a resource.
avianscompany owned by Barcelo Groupwas imposed on its competitors in all possible lots: Mundiplan (The Temporary Companies Association –UTE– is formed Iberia, IAG and Alsa), senior plan 2.0 (another joint venture created by) natalia, senior plan And Vera Coaches) And fade. It didn’t take long for one of them to file their first appeal, which was denied, and since then, many specialist media have reported that at least two of them have filed an appeal before the court. Contract Court of Appeal. As El Periódico found out, Mundiplan is still thinking about it, but Seniorplan 2.0 has started delivering it.
According to various sources in the industry, if they actually waited until the last day to submit the application, it was because it was difficult, on the one hand, to find a space to allow them to question the issue. due to the conclusion of the competition and on the other hand too much pressure to avoid a delay which is considered natural in case of appeal.
Because according to the presented chronology Vice President of Tourism Board –a large forum of companies in the industry–, Santiago VallejoIt could take months for this court to decide. In addition, the party winning the tender cannot put the wheels in motion until the contract is definitively signed. Only then can agents start selling.
Imserso’s contribution to the public coffers
“There is a gap in the history of hotels that they don’t know what to do with,” this spokesperson explains. “They can more or less win with Imserso, but at least keep the store open and they don’t have to fire people, which is work And public vault: For every euro subsidized by the government [de este programa] Get 1.5 euro back between Unemployment benefits saved, taxes you collect, traveler expenses… it doesn’t make sense to delay it every year for one reason or another”, argues Vallejo.
“The Imserso program has two clear goals: seniors can travel at a competitive price and all hotels that would otherwise close are operating during this low season. Director of the Specialized Travel Agencies Corporate Association (acave), Catiana Tour. “If you start selling in December, all of the fall and winter months are months that hoteliers can’t fill,” he explains.
In fact, as published by specialist media it’s a hosteleven thirty before I knew whether there would be appeals Benidorm Hotels Companies serving tourists from Imserso trips were already considering whether to close this low season, largely due to already accumulated delays.
guaranteed delay
“They’ve had this program since October, and if it wasn’t for this client, most of them would have been closed,” he admits. Member of CEHAT and representative of the Hospitality and Tourism Business Federation of the Province of Tarragona in this hotel confederation, Edward Farriol. This expert at Imserso remembers that Catalonia attracted almost 80,000 of these customers last year; this is a very significant volume for this time of year.