From 85% to almost full occupancy for the Puríssima holiday

Girona (ACN).- Hotels and apartments in the Catalan Pyrenees were almost fully booked for this week’s Puríssima holiday, between the 3rd and 8th of December, with more than 85% of occupancy rate. In the Girona side, in the counties of Ripollès and Cerdanya, the occupancy rate was almost 100%, 20 points higher than 2009. This is a result of more than 60,000 skiers who spent this week’s 5-day holiday in the Pyrenees of Girona. 90,000 did so in the Pyrenees of Lleida, which saw an ocuppancy rate of 85%. Seashore areas in the Costa Daurada, in Southern Catalonia, had an occupancy rate of 85%.

The Pyrenees of Lleida also saw around 85% occupancy. The 11 ski stations of Lleida sold a total of 90,000 ski passes during the 5-day holiday, a little less than predicted due to higher temperatures and rain. According to Lleida’s Director of Tourism, Àngel Vidal, the results of the Puríssima holiday show an “optimistic” start of the snow season. The economic impact of the holiday is calculated at some 20 million euros for Lleida counties, 8% of the expected amount for the whole season.

Vidal said that the 5-day Puríssima holiday was “satisfactory” despite the fact that it did not meet their sales prediction of 95,000 ski passes. According to him, this is because of unexpected higher temperatures and rain. Vidal said that the beginning of the weekend “started off very well” but that the weather worsened and the number of skiers dropped “significantly”. Despite everything, most hotels experienced 80-85% occupancy, going up to 100% for the hotels closest to ski areas .

Vidal also added that hotels and apartments in rural areas, including campsites, also experienced an occupancy of around 85%. The Director of Tourism said that it was a good holiday overall and that they are “optimistic” about the rest of the season.

Regarding the economic impact of the 5-day holiday, Vidal calculates it at around 20 million euros, saying “for every euro in ski passes, 7 euros were generated in hotels, restaurants and other activities”. A total of 290 million euros is predicted for Lleida’s entire ski season.

Air traffic controller’s strike increases reservations

Vidal explained that the recent air traffic controller’s strike spurred an increase in the number of visitors and reservations. According to him, this is because “people really wanted to ski”. He added that the Lleida-Alguaire airport accommodated passengers on Sunday that were coming from other points and that it worked “with full normality”.