The Association of Tourist Apartments of Barcelona (Apartur) has called on Thursday to the Generalitat to withdraw the increase in the tourist rate, included in the 2020 Budgets, to mitigate the effects on the cancellation sector of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which was to be held in the Catalan capital at the end of February.
“Now is not the time for more economic charges,” said the president of Apartur, Enrique Alcantara, who has also asked the administrations for an extraordinary line of financing through the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) to meet the expenses generated by the cancellation of the world mobile congress.
He recalled that the MWC means a direct impact of about 14 million euros and 4% of the annual turnover for the tourist housing sector in Barcelona: “For us, Mobile is a turning point in the low season “.
For this edition, the reserves were around 90% and the forecasts were “very good”, although the uncertainty of the last days about the coronavirus had caused the last minute reserves to slow down waiting to know what would happen With the congress.
He has indicated that the operators began receiving the first cancellations on Wednesday night, and that each company has agreed the cancellation conditions with each client.
Alcantara has argued that for the association the conditions were met so that Mobile could be held normally, so the sector has been disappointed: “You just have to see how other cities in the world, such as Amsterdam, are celebrating in these similar congresses, “he said in reference to the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) technology fair, which will be held in the Catalan capital as of 2021.
Impact on SMEs
Catalan employer Pimec has estimated at 220 million euros the losses that local SMEs will suffer from the cancellation of the MWC due to the global outbreak of coronavirus.
In a statement, it has indicated that the economic sectors most affected by the cancellation of the world mobile congress are hospitality, catering, commerce, mobility services and technology companies.