Travel agencies give a very negative balance of the situation

The National Union of Travel Agencies (UNAV) makes a very pessimistic balance of the situation in its segment. After a year of the first state of alarm decree, they criticize that they cannot work normally, that there is a threat of closure for hundreds of establishments and that the aids are insufficient and without concretion. In the best of scenarios they calculate to invoice half that in 2019.

The entity, which brings together a total of 3,670 points of sale that employ about 5,000 workers (before the pandemic), criticizes the pace of vaccination n  and claims the Government «concreción» in the aid package of 11.000 million euros that announced & oacute; in parliament.

Above all, know that & eacute; part of that money will be allocated to travel agencies, « because it is one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic and the restrictions on mobility imposed, and its professionals are already at the limit of their forces ».

With the health crisis, travel agencies have lost about 80% of their turnover in 2020 and fear that, without direct aid, 4 out of 10 travel agencies in Spain could close.

In addition, with the current scenario, 84.5% of travel agents believe that it will be impossible to recover the turnover levels of the year before the pandemic.

72.3% of professionals believe that, in the best-case scenario, and with the situation reasonably normalized, invoicingían half that in 2019 or less, although the most frequent estimate is that they will invoiceían between 30% and 50%, accordingún Observatur.

Another worrying fact, according to UNAV, is that 3 out of 10 agencies have not been able to keep their entire workforce in 2020 and 23% expect to make layoffs soon.

To all these figures, we must add the latest data offered by the UNWTO, recalls the association: "one in three destinations in the world is currently completely closed to international tourism.

José Luis Méndez, president of UNAV, recalls that «travel agents want to work, but we cannot and have to have our business closed. We are falling behind. We need direct aid to ensure our future».

 

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