Anecdotes were almost instantaneous when we sat down at the table a few weeks ago during a meal with friends in La Vila, a town that deserves a visit any day of the year. The waiter, with oriental features, but with a perfect Spanish and almost Valencian accent, stood in front of us, ready to receive our meals. Without a notebook or any electronic device to send orders directly to the kitchen, he made a mental note of what we wanted, to everyone’s surprise. After “it’s all over”, one of my friends asked him if he could remember the pile of food we ordered. The boy smiled, nodded, and went to the kitchen. Ten minutes later, all the dishes came to the table, whichever was richer, and almost at last, the waiter turned to us and asked with a mischievous grin, “Is everything alright?” Something is missing? Perfect, we answered together. Another half turn and it slowly walked away. I’m glad and why not tell you, I’m glad too. albertWe didn’t stop asking his name, he would have succeeded.
Then I remembered an article by one of the columnists in the Financial Times a few years ago: Alexander Gilmourthe waiters commented that “they are the windows through which we see the soul of cities”. Francis Colomer His crusade to raise awareness in the hospitality industry. How much sanity and how much stupidity pervades everyone who, perhaps without thinking, defines the profession as something inferior that one should not pursue.
I also recalled the La Vila anecdote after the business community complained about the shortage of waiters, right after the hotel management and unions agreed to raise wages in the hotel industry by 4.5% this 2022. A deal that comes next. It is certainly at the doorstep of a high tourist season surrounded by great anticipation and hope after months of impoverishment by the cost of everything and two empty years for many organisations. Thousands of bars and restaurants, humble or award-winning, through tough times, still in debt, and many of them family days begin at dawn and end with sunset, many times are dragged into their employees. … if they can afford it.
The Costa Blanca is at the gates of summer at the start of the recovery, and the tourism sector is key, because its success also depends on its ability to sell more cars, more washing machines, and even let us all go to that supermarket. More joy every Saturday where we see everything getting more expensive and even the bags of chips are not as full as they used to be but more expensive. Fortunately, the only thing that remains constant is our desire to travel and have fun. And in this scenario of tourist enthusiasm – who hasn’t noticed that in recent weeks the terraces have been much more lively, even on a Tuesday night? – The waiters will be the key. That’s why we should celebrate the pay rise, but also demand that it be fulfilled and that an eight-hour contract does not become one of 15. Well, remember, customer satisfaction starts with that of the outgoing employee. dedicate to smile.
I say the scenario does not look bad, but at the beginning of June 2022 and a whole month before the high season of the industry, the period from July to the end of September, hotels (100,000 beds) are only 60% contracted and as one of the hoteliers reminded once a week on the same pages, The remaining 40% to be sold is not expected to be confirmed until a week or ten days before the tourist enters the business gate, first at the top of the Costa Blanca. It is uncertainty that surrounds us today.
The economic crisis caused by health caused the tourism sector to accumulate losses of nearly 10,000 million Euros in Costa Blanca, which tied 70% of the activity to the ropes. Just two months ago, about 3,000 workers in the sector were still in ERTE. Four thousand workplaces closed their doors and a similar figure continues to survive with more serious problems. Pedestrianization, whose first steps resist being visible, is not a miracle that will fix everything unless work is done behind it at all levels.
30% of the 14,300 bars, cafes and restaurants in the province, as well as about 4,300 workplaces, have not reopened since the first quarantine that occurred in March 2020. And economic aid in general and hitherto has been stingy. Therefore, it is good that we are entering June with a controlled hope. The industry needs labor and we all know that it is difficult to work when everyone is on vacation. Therefore, glorifying a strategic profession for the provincial economy is transcendent because we live in Alicante from services, but no one doubts that we want to become experts in artificial intelligence.
Note: There’s no one who doesn’t return to a bar where the person behind the counter “pulls” a good beer. The bartender’s skill ranges from how well we were treated at the hotel reception, to the smiling face of the taxi driver, or to the generous salad. Prices have gone up for everyone, and trying to smooth the rise in costs by adjusting and reducing quality would be like bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. No one goes back to a bar, restaurant, hotel, apartment or destination where they had a bad experience. And yes, the waitress and waitress job is worthy, altruistic, and at the forefront of the tourist war. No explanation needed on the Costa Blanca.