The recession shows no mercy and claims another victim in the tourism sector. After three decades of operation, the iconic Hotel El Solar, located in the Corrientes city of Bella Vista, announced it will permanently cease operations this week. The decision by the owning company dramatically exposes the unsustainable loss of profitability and the constant drop in demand that is suffocating traditional hotels.
The decision was made by the owning company, which argued that hotel operations were no longer profitable due to a sustained decline in demand over recent years. The national government’s measures directly impacted the tourism industry, as costs became very high, leading to an increase in outbound travel and fewer international tourists.
Amílcar Fernández, a worker at the establishment, explained in statements that staff were informed about the closure and that the hotel will only continue to receive guests until next Friday. «We were told by the company that the hotel’s operations will be permanently closed,» he said in statements to a local media outlet.
The economic situation of the establishment had been under analysis for some time, and the difficulties in sustaining operations progressively deepened until its continuity became unviable. Hotel El Solar had established itself as one of the most recognized accommodations in Bella Vista thanks to its classic and colonial-style architecture and its characteristic carob wood furniture, becoming a reference for those visiting the city.
In early July, two other iconic hotels in Entre Ríos also had to close their doors: «El Molino» in Victoria and «Posta del Sol» in Paraná. The sad decision was confirmed by sources from the Union of Hotel and Gastronomic Workers (Uthgra) and by operators linked to both ventures.
On the last long weekend, the province had only 55 percent occupancy, and reservations for winter vacations are at just 25 percent. In addition to the decline in tourism, many are cutting back on leisure due to the poor economic situation.
«Our clients are workers from other economies, so when the scenario is bad, they stop investing in our activity. We are living through a pandemic without a virus,» said the General Secretary of Uthgra in Paraná and director of Empatur, José Trlin Carelli.
In that regard, he stated that the hotel industry feels it more than gastronomy and lamented that these two hotels that closed their doors join two others (Hotel Plaza Jardín and Don Marcos) that suffered the same fate and left dozens of workers on the street. «Hotel capacity in Paraná has been severely affected,» he emphasized.
El Molino was one of the best-known tourist complexes in Victoria and closed after nearly 25 years. «There was a significant increase in energy and wage costs, along with a strong recession in local tourism. The poor state of the roads also contributed, and there was no help from the state or the municipality, no tax relief or anything of the sort,» explained one of the owners, Estanislao Atencio.
The outlook is bleak for the hotel sector in the region. The combination of recession, high costs, and lack of state support is taking historic establishments out of the game, leaving dozens of employees on the street. Meanwhile, the national government seems to look the other way, letting the crisis sweep away traditional hotels.
q pijaso hermano!!! otro laburo menos x culpa del capitalismo choto. para mi esto huele a los oligarcas q nos roban hasta las vacaciones. abajo el sistema abajo los dueños explotadores viva la lucha obrera carajo!!!
Para mí esto es un desastre total. 30 años de laburo tirados a la basura por la inutilidad de este gobierno. Se premia a los vivos y se cagan en los laburantes. Milei o muerte carajo!