12el Periòdic d’Andorrawww.elperiodic.ad DIMARTS, 10 DE JULIOL DEL 2018

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E N G L I S H E D I T I O N T U E 9

12el Periòdic d’Andorrawww.elperiodic.ad DIMARTS, 10 DE JULIOL DEL 2018

Tema del dia CONEIXEMENT SOBRE L’ÚS DE LES TECNOLOGIES el Periòdicd

'And

orr

axxel Periòdic News

E N G L I S H E D I T I O N M O N 6

Employment forecast da-ta for this weekend are 47.57% nationwide consi-dering that there are be-

tween 65% and 70% of hotels open, not counting seasonal ones, accor-ding to the Hotel Union of Andorra (UHA) through a press release yester-day. In this sense, the director of the UHA, Jordi Pujol, explained to EL PE-RIÒDIC, that “we have 80 hotels. Of these, 10 are seasonal. For the rest, we will have about fifty open this weekend. «

In addition to this information, Pujol stated that all the hotels that have opened must have at least 80% of the staff to guarantee their ope-ration. Thus, the tourist accommo-dation that has resumed activity, if they had applied any of the measu-res on workers proposed by the Go-vernment for the management of the economic crisis arising from the Covid-19 as the reduction of the wor-king day or the Temporary Suspensi-

MARICEL BLANCH

33 Tourists on Avinguda Meritxell last summer.

More than 65% of hotels open this weekendThe Hotel Union expects an occupancy of almost 50% of the tourist accommodation

Actual data from last week indicates that the forecast was exceeded by 135.89%

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TOURISM

16.38% and Sant Julià de Lòria 10%. Overall, the day that will receive the most tourist visits will be Saturday.

PAST CURRENT EMPLOYMENT / In refe-rence to the weekend of 26 and 27 June, the Hotel Union found that the actual employment data were well above those forecast days earli-er and this fact was attributed to the bookings of last minute. In this sen-se, out of the 24.02% employment fo-recast, the final and real figure was 56.66%, which means a variation of 135.89% between the forecast data and the final data. They also pointed out that last year was the first wee-kend that hotels were opened and only 20% of tourist accommodati-on opened.

EMPLOYMENT FORECAST / Jordi Pujol

also stated that making an employ-ment forecast for the coming mont-hs is difficult considering that “a month ago we did one for the who-le summer and with what we had, an employment of 27% came out in July and 38% in August, but looking at the actual data we think they will be above all that. Finally, last-minu-te bookings always end up causing employment to go up and not being fully accounted for. «

In relation to last-minute boo-kings, Pujol also explained that the effect that the reduction in prices can cause to attract customers can be reversible in the long run, becau-se it may be that when these prices are normalized they have been re-duced during one time, customers don’t come back because they’ll find them high. H

«Last-minute bookings always end up causing employment to increase and not to be fully accounted for.»

Jordi PujolDIRECTOR OF THE HOTEL UNION OF ANDORRA

Open hotelsmust have at least80% of the staff to ensure their operation.

on of the Employment Contract, ha-ve had to reinstate almost the entire staff or fill vacancies. However, the director of the UHA pointed out that the total number of people hired at each hotel depends on the services it has taken over.

CURRENT OCCUPANCY FORECAST / Spe-cifically, the parish that concentra-tes the most bookings for this wee-kend is Encamp, which has 76.34% hotel bookings. It is followed by Es-caldes-Engorday, with 58.75% of its offer of tourist accommodation of this type full and Andorra la Vella, with 58.43%. However, all the paris-hes in the Principality have a signifi-cant hotel occupancy during the we-ekend. In this sense, La Massana ex-pects 55.87% of employment, Pas de la Casa 33%, Canillo 26.10%, Ordino

el Periòdic Newswww.elperiodic.ad el Periòdic NewsMONDAY, 6 JULY 2020 13

Caldea reopens its doors to the public today. With a positive closing in terms of revenue in 2019 and an

acceleration of bookings on its web-site in recent weeks, the director ge-neral of the thermal leisure center, Miguel Pedregal, expects a «progres-sive recovery» and a «moderately po-sitive summer balance».

The Consul General of the parish of Escaldes-Engordany and presi-dent of the thermal spa, Rosa Gili, valued during the reopening cere-mony the relevance of Caldea as a «tourist attraction» and celebrated that «the management has been go-od ”and, therefore, will be a plus for overcoming the economic compli-cations presented by the Covid-19 health crisis. In this sense, it was clo-se to the management and the team of the center, which have already re-instated almost the entire staff.

EL PERIÒDIC

33 The Consul General of Escaldes-Engordany, Rosa Gili, and the Director General, Miguel Pedregal, in front of the panoramic lagoon.

Caldea expects to close the summer with a «moderately positive» balanceThe gradual recovery will be possible thanks to the «acceleration» of reserves for the months of July and August

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TOURISM ATTRACTION

According to statements by Pe-dregal, for now only between 20 and 30% of staff are in a situation of tem-porary suspension of the employ-ment contract (STCT) and the goal is to «return to normalcy as soon as possible» with the reinstatement of all of them in the coming days. Although the director announced the possibility of having a «profita-ble, productive and well-attended» month of August, he assumed that the situation would be atypical and different from «normal years».

In fact, following the security measures dictated by the Ministry of Health, Caldea has limited its ca-pacity by reducing it to 30% of the maximum capacity of users, recom-mends the advance reservation of tickets with exact date and time and an increase on cleaning and disin-fection services. Specifically, from the thermal leisure they assured

The thermolúdic will reincorporate 30% of the staff that is still in STCT in the coming days

that the «protocols of hygiene and of surfaces of water and air are mo-re exhaustive than ever» and that all the thermal waters are treated with chlorine, ultraviolet light (UV) and disinfectants of high spectrum , which would be enough to kill the virus according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Other security measures inclu-de the use of protective equipment by all personnel; the obligation to use a mask in all common areas, un-til you reach the changing rooms and wash your hands with hydroal-coholic ice constantly. For this rea-son, circuits have also been delimi-ted and various automatic dispen-sers have been placed throughout the building. However, Pedregal ac-knowledged that the government had informed them that the capa-city could be increased «if all goes well».

gordany hope to develop a good summer tourist season and are confident that «in front of our lo-cal market we can be a destinati-on-refuge to make a few days geta-way and feel safe» , said Pedregal, who emphasized the fact that «An-dorra is very well prepared, things have been done very well, the po-pulation is very aware and we will have tourists who will return».

The occupancy rate for hotels in Escaldes-Engordany is 58.75% between Saturday and Sunday, ac-cording to data provided by the Hotel Union of Andorra (UHA). From Caldea also reported that this is due to the fact that 40% of the hotels in the parish will be open. Specifically, there are a do-zen of the total, which is 31. Next week they are expected to open 70% of the tourist establishments in Escaldes. H

BATH AT VALIRA / The reopening of Caldea also coincided with the inauguration of a new facility, which some partners were able to test yesterday during the pre-ope-ning of the center. This is the pa-noramic lagoon, with a capacity for 30 people and it is suspended from the facade of the building, just about eight meters above the river Valira. One of the attributes that give it originality and visual appeal, stated the general mana-ger of the thermal leisure center is «its transparent walls and bot-toms with which people in the wa-ter can see the course of the river».

This proposal was scheduled to start during the 2019-2020 se-ason, a start that has had to wait until early July due to the arrival of the pandemic in the Principa-lity. However, both from the cen-ter and the town of Escaldes-En-

«We are very lucky in the sense that the management has been good and financially we have a good position, a plus to overcome this crisis»

«Reservations are starting to accelerate on our website and it is the best example that we will return to normality gradually»

ROSA GILI

MIGUEL PEDREGAL

CONSUL GENERAL OF E-E

GENERAL MANAGER OF CALDEA