Big Business on the Camino

[peregrina2000]

I just saw this article in the Diario de Leon.

http://www.lacronicadeleon.es/2012/08/2 ... 158808.htm

It describes a construction project to be undertaken by the company Santiago Punto, which is going to build pilgrim accommodations at 64 different points along the Camino Frances and the Camino from LePuy to the border. The accommodations will be rooms with two beds in a prefabricated module, each with private bath. There will be a self-service restaurant, 25 rooms at each place, and a "cyber point" at each facility.

The project is expected to employ 320 people, 60 of them working in the restaurants, 25 in the "Reservation Central," (you can reserve your entire Camino from LePuy in one fell swoop!) and the rest will be working on building the facilities.

Each module will be financed and owned by an individual who lives in each one of the designated stages, perhaps with municipal assistance. The company will then rent the facilities back from each of the owners and operate the albergues.

These modules will be run by the company for 150 days a year, and for the other days of the year, the owners can decide how to use the facilities.

Not quite sure how to react to this.

 

[Kitsambler]

Not quite sure how to react to this.

I can only react regarding the section in France, from Le Puy to SJPP (as I have not walked in Spain yet). This is a very rural and economically underdeveloped area of France. The existing gites and chamber d'hotes are mom-and-pop operations by local residents. Walkers (both pilgrims and vacationers) are a major element of the local economy. When a walker stays in these establishments, their money stays local. If a corporation builds and operates a gite, it takes away money from the local economy, leaving it worse off than before.

One of the essentials of business planning is to gauge demand for the product or service before making the capital investment. At least in France, I cannot see that there is enough demand to make this project a viable business proposition. The owners of existing gites are having difficulty maintaining profitability as it is (since I do business consulting, this is often a topic of conversation when I stay).

On the other hand, maybe the developers are hoping for a "if we build it they will come" scenario.

 

[grayland]

I am also not sure what to think.

I agree with Kit that the French section from Le Puy would really be a change from what now exists. The Gite system in France is very different from the Camino Frances.

In Spain...there are places where this would be very welcome. But...again the Camino would be changed to a very different experience. I am not a fan of the existing albergue structure but just pick and choose now and use private accomondations often.

 

[mspath]

I, too, am not sure what to think. Aesthetically speaking I hope that these are not the same group that developed Monte do Gozo! Furthermore If this project becomes reality pity the poor spirit of Elias Valinas Sampiedro. In the present economic climate it is hard to imagine that such an endeavor will actually begin since "El proyecto pretende que los módulos sean financiados, de manera privada, a través de ciudadanos de cada uno de los municipios por los que transcurre el Camino de Santiago, peregrinos e incluso empresas comerciales e industriales." or as translated by Google "The project is intended that the modules are funded privately, by citizens of each of the municipalities through which passes the Camino de Santiago, pilgrims and even commercial and industrial enterprises".

Margaret

 

[Thornley]

There is a new boutique hotel in Muxia besides a new private alberque .
Talking to locals at the festival 2 weeks ago we discovered that the government is giving very , very good terms for 15 year to these developers.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It is hard to know when creeping commercialism has crossed the line. For example, wares and services are advertised on the Forum in every post sometimes. Ivar sells ads to support the Forum costs, so the free advertising does not support his business plan, and at some point it exploits our collective enthusiasm solely for the purpose of commercial gain. Some albergue operators have dedicated their lives to the Camino, often for generations. When McAlbergues are created to cherry pick the high season demand, it takes revenue from the businesses that are there all year. The bad penny drives the good penny out. Additional capacity is necessary to accommodate peak loads, but as some new albergue operators who opened for the holy year have learned, there is an off-season to keep in mind. My personal opinion is that the Big Business has a flawed plan. It will appeal only to a small segment of the pilgrim market, the hospitaleros who actually operate the franchises will be disappointed, the quality of the accommodations will deteriorate, and the whole "experiment" will take down many existing small albergues in its failure. I am reminded of Webvan and Blockbuster business plans, which did not accurately assess either market or technology. The extreme popularity of Granon is a strong indicator of what pilgrims want. Ferrementiero in Portomarin with its 120 beds in one room is the other end of pilgrim demand -- purpose built utility with no atmosphere (it is one of my favorites!). I don't think a Motel 6 McAlbergue addresses either of these demands. This is all just my personal opinion. I could be wrong.

 

[peregrina2000]

It does seem like the financial model is kind of a "rip off the profits" approach to doing business. The individual in each town finances the construction and owns the building, then the company rents it for 150 days a year (and takes the profits) and leaves the building for the owner to figure out what to do with it for the other 215 days of the year.

I don't want to sound like an aesthetic snob here, but the description of how it's going to look makes me fear that each one of these prefab pods will guarantee that there is a big blob of ugliness every 30 kms from LePuy to Santiago:

"The modules are rectangular and made of soft wood, recyclable and placed on top of a bed of thorn bushes and anchored to the ground. The materials come from a wood factory in the Basque Country; they resist wind up to 200 kms an hour, and consist of a room for two people, with complete bath, and Italian shower (not sure how that's different from any other shower) and beds of high quality and comfort. The outside has an aspect of aged grey respecting the surroundings. The modules are transportable, ecological, and of course cause the least harm possible on the ground they use and on the environment."

I'm a little suspicious, it sounds pretty awful -- aged grey exteriors to respect the surroundings?????

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Italian shower from Google images?

 

[zammy]

I hope that the local governemnts and municipalities will see to thier own people and voters. I think that a mayor of a smal village will think twice before allowing these kind of buisness flourish on account of their voters, times are hard enough in the deep rural France. If they allow this kind of buisness not caring for thier own voters -they won't last in position. I HOPE.

 

[mspath]

Here is their web site with more info on the company. >>http://www.santiagopunto.com/fr/

Margaret

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for that link, Margaret,

If you click through the pictures at the top, it shows that they already have something built at Valcarlos. My impression, though, is that the Valcarlos building is different than the modules they show on their drawings. My guess is that the truck that is shown is pulling one of the modules.
It certainly fits the description of "aged grey."

I am also guessing that the point of the "truck tour" is to drum up business and find investors, no?

Can this map possibly be suggesting that they intend to put them all over every Camino in Spain?
http://www.santiagopunto.com/fr/files/2 ... spagne.gif

 

[mspath]

Laurie,

Here is more from Valcarlos/Luzaide on that new complex http://www.deia.com/2012/07/28/sociedad/euskadi/peregrinaje-punto-a-punto.

I'll check it out, but NOT stay there, when walking once again mid October.

As we used to say in NYC when I worked for the Landmarks Commission "There goes the neighborhood!"

Margaret

 

[grayland]

The more I read about this...the less I think it belongs on the camino.
I really don't think it will ever get off the ground as the business plan is very flawed.

 

[peregrina2000]

Today on the Spanish forum, there's a link to another article, the truck is now in Molinaseca.
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/bie ... 20638.html

Ok, modules are for sale for 15,000 euros -- any takers?

 

[scruffy1]

This does sound a bit different then Monte Gozo or Os Chacotes (my personal pit of all pits) - but the concept seems similar, is the Mom and Pop albergue on the way out? Any port in a storm but these should make the traditional albergue even more popular unless they are attacked by Spanish bureaucracy and over-officious inspectors. Spanish bar patrons acquiesced very quietly to the law prohibiting smoking in public places. There are far fewer napkins strewn on the floor in most bars as well. This does not look good.

 

[ausmarko]

Part of the lure for me of doing the Camino is the different experiences along the way. That includes a variety of accommodation experiences. If I knew the next stay was going to be a carbon copy of the previous, i would not be interested. A "McDonald's" camino would not be for me. I think it would be a disaster actually. I am doing this to see history, not the same thing every day in every town.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

These ideas roll up the road now and then, and then they disappear. We were supposed to see several albergues made of recycled shipping containers going up a few years ago, but they never materialized. We were supposed to see simple Pilgrim Campings put into "areas of scanty resources" three years ago, and I have not seen those, either.

Perhaps this would work on the French way. Frankly, though, the CF is now overbuilt. New albergues are struggling to survive, even in towns where there were none before. I can´t see anyone with a brain investing a building he can´t use during the height of the season, and I have to wonder how these little cabins will hold up to the use and abuse of several pilgrim seasons.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I still like my government-subsidized Servicio Squad (of course I would, though; it is my idea). Up to fifty small vans with coin operated toilets and a tienda, that station themselves about every 5 km along the remoter stretches of the camino, positioning themselves each morning at the selected sites, and going home in the afternoon, from April through September. It would be about 75 jobs during the summer for that nearly 50% unemployed youth segment. The toilets could be serviced each evening at central locations. The camino would be cleaner. The coin box and the sale of sodas, coffee, and snacks might cover most of the cost of the service, and there would be a lot of grateful pilgrims! Competition to established businesses would be minimal, and might even please them as fewer non-paying pilgrims mob their aseos.

It'll never happen, of course...

 

[andy.d]

You could fit a very small albergue in the structure at the bottom of each electricity pylon ...