This is how luxury hotels live without tourists

"During the week we have an occupancy of 6% and on the weekend we can reach 10% with an exclusively Madrid clientele."

Marta Centeno, communication director of the first Four Seasons Hotel in Spain, inaugurated on September 25, sums up the opening month and a half after eight years of construction in the central Canalejas square, two steps from Puerta del Sol Centeno recognizes that starting a hotel with these characteristics has not been easy at all in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic: “Our clients are mainly Americans, Latin Americans and Asians.

We expected to reach 50% occupancy in the first months, but with the borders closed worldwide, we decided to open focusing on the Madrid client, which translates into a change in strategy and even the mentality of our employees ”.

With a staff of 254 people and 57 rooms in operation, of the 200 that will open in the future, the hotel has opened spaces to the public such as the

, with bar service, or its exclusive four-story spa, with the intention of “ publicize the Four Seasons experience in your own city ”.

Of the 20 hotels that the Canadian chain has in Europe, only six of them remain closed due to Covid-19, but its small clientele is very different from the usual, it is local or business.

The drop in foreign tourism has been especially dramatic for luxury establishments.

According to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics, Spain received 1.1 million international tourists in September, 87.1% less than in the same month of 2019. In the first nine months of 2020, 16.8 million have visited Spain of tourists.

Last year 67.0 million did.

New formulas for new customers

Faced with this scenario, the establishments that have opened have launched into the search for new formulas to resist the crisis.

Of the 34 five-star hotels that are part of the Madrid Hoteliers Business Association, only nine are open, and their occupancy is around 10%, according to the organization.

The Boutique Tótem hotel, located in the heart of Madrid's golden mile, has focused its efforts on seeking and loyalty to the corporate client: selling the rooms to work as if it were an office but with the services of a hotel establishment.

"This type of guest has new needs, so we have launched an executive package that contains a later

(exit) at no cost, the use of a meeting room or the exclusive enjoyment of the gym," explains the director, Dulce Ortega.

From an occupancy of 80% in the month of October last year, this accommodation has fallen to 15% this fall, "although this week we have risen to 25% and we believe that it is due to the news that arrives about the different vaccines", The direction of Totem is optimistic.

The second wave of infections has again plunged tourism demand this fall.

Overnight stays in hotel establishments decreased by 83.3% in October, five points more than in September, according to the latest INE data published this Tuesday.

The fall in October is five points deeper than in September, leaving far behind the figures for July and August, when there was a timid recovery (73% and 64%, respectively).

After a summer with acceptable figures for a low season in Madrid, the URSO hotel, the first five-star boutique that opened in the capital after confinement, saw its occupancy drop in September.

So he changed his strategy and set his sights on the Las Salesas neighborhood where it is located.

"We are looking for ways to attract the residents of the neighborhood, to come here after work and enjoy the services of a luxury establishment," says its director, Víctor Vacas.

Gin tonics and vermouth workshops, rooms occasionally converted into modern barber shops and piano evenings with champagne before entering the restaurant, are some of the new formulas that the URSO team has adapted.

It is about continuing to work and little by little recovering turnover and business normality.

"Thanks to these initiatives, our lobby is alive again, people consume and we also employ the small businesses that surround the hotel," says the hotel management with satisfaction.

Information about the coronavirus

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