The Diputación de Granada promotes a meeting between businessmen and the Ministry of Tourism

José Entrena acknowledged in his speech that "the tourism sector is having a very hard time during the pandemic" but he launched a message of optimism: "Until two years ago we were doing very well and we will do it again. People want to travel and enjoy themselves and in Granada we want to be the first to start the recovery because we have an incredible offer". The president of the Provincial Council extended his hand to the Secretary of State for Tourism to work together on promotion and reminded him that "the province has a lot to contribute to the whole of Spain in terms of tourism".

The president of the Provincial Federation of Hotel and Tourism Businesses, Gregorio García, corroborated the situation of "uncertainty" experienced by the sector and detailed to Fernando Valdés a dozen pressing needs, among which he highlighted "increasing the rate of vaccination to generate confidence for travel, improving communications by AVE and air, more promotion in international markets, direct aid to the sector and simplification of the procedures for obtaining it, access to European funds, extension of the ERTE until the end of the year, and regulation of tourist housing and camping in motorhomes". He also conveyed the difficulties of hotel and catering entrepreneurs in finding qualified staff and regretted the recent work carried out by the Coastal Authority on Playa Poniente, which makes access to the sea and to restaurants difficult..

The Secretary of State addressed in his reply all the demands of Granada's business community and sent out a message of hope with the forecasts for the second half of the year: "It will be a good summer for domestic tourism and we expect to receive 50% of the foreign tourists we used to; we are starting to see mobility in the German and French markets, not so much in the British, but 2021 is going to be the beginning of the recovery". To this end, he considers it essential to "extend the summer as much as possible, until October". Valdés thanked and acknowledged "the efforts of businessmen during the crisis" and assured that "Granada has a potential that will allow it to consolidate an upward trend".

With regard to international promotion, he recalled that "Turespaña has made a historic investment of eight million euros in the advertising campaign for this summer" and has begun to work in markets such as the United States, which is strategic for Granada, facilitating the crossing of borders.

He encouraged tourism destinations and SMEs to apply for European funds, which will include non-refundable funds for digitalisation, energy efficiency and the circular economy. On the ERTEs, he reiterated the Government's commitment to "extend them without a doubt if necessary".