The European tourism employers’ associations have told the Spanish Government to stop following the mandatory implementation of the new traveller registerwhich they warn will raise holiday prices, reduce the number of tourists and may jeopardize the continuity of the sector as a European leader. Just two weeks before the end of the latest extension of the royal decree requiring data to be requested from the subsectors of the tourism sector, the European tourism associations have shown their “opposition, alarm and confusion” to said regulations “by the chaos that will produce its implementation due to the impossibility of its compliance. The businessmen warn that the increased costs that it entails This measure in the sector will translate “immediately” into an increase in the price of holidays.
This has been communicated to the Executive by letter from the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat), the European Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (Ectaa), the European Tourism Association (ETOA), the European Federation of Rural Tourism (Ruraltour) and Hotrecthe European association representing hotels, restaurants, bars, cafés and similar establishments in the European Union, have joined forces and protested against the entry into force of this new regulation on 1 October.
Specifically, they warn that “the decree will impose a significant and unnecessary administrative burden and additional costs, which will de facto increase the price of holidays in a highly competitive market.” Among their criticisms, they speak of “incompatibility with European Union regulations” –since the European Commission and the CJEU have pointed out that “the measures for the mass processing of personal data provided for in this royal decree violate community regulations on data protection and privacy”–; they cause “legal uncertainty and impossibility of compliance” for many small businesses – because it lacks the specificity and clarity necessary to avoid legal loopholes –; they cause a “clear competitive disadvantage in the national and European market”; and that the majority of companies “they do not have the capacity to adapt technologically” to the regulations and will be forced to face a disproportionate and unaffordable administrative burden and costs.”
EU tourism associations also ask Pedro Sánchez’s Executive How the Spanish authorities will avoid duplications with the application of the new law or how these obligations will affect people outside Spain and even within the European Union itself.
Overnight stays in hotel establishments in the first half of the year reached 160.6 million between January and June, increasing by 7.5% compared to the same half of 2023. In this way, hotel stays broke a historical record, according to data from the INE. Spanish hotels billed an average of 122 euros per occupied room in June, which represents an increase of 8.1% compared to the same month of the previous year, also a new record. The employers’ associations warn that These record figures could be greatly reduced with the implementation of this royal decree.