Staying in a hotel during the holidays has never been so expensive in Spain. The average rate per occupied room reached 128.8 euros per night in July, 6.3% more than the same month last year and almost 25% above July 2019 (102 euros), year record for the tourism sector and reference for comparison after the pandemic, according to the hotel situation survey published yesterday by the INE.
The upload does not understand categories. It affects all pockets, both those who have to make do with the most basic establishments because they cannot pay more and those who allow themselves more luxurious services. If four years ago a night in a three-star establishment cost 88.2 euros and, in a four-star establishment, 111.5 euros, this July the price was 110 euros and 134.8 euros respectively. For five-star hotels, the rate in July, in the middle of high season, has gone from 212 euros to 298.6 euros. The increase is also significant compared to 2022 – see graph -, when prices already rose due to the travel frenzy after the pandemic. The income per available room (counting both those that are occupied and those that are not), advances equally.
However, the hoteliers consulted insist that profitability is not growing at the same rate because costs – electricity tariff, wages, food… – are not easing either. The latest report from the Exceltur employers’ association attributes to this increase in operating costs, together with the “improvement of the quality of the product”, the increase in the average price of accommodation. The number of places with 4 and 5 stars, for example, has increased by 62,000 during the first half of the year, while 40,000 places with one to three stars have disappeared.
Despite the record hotel prices in July, inflation is beginning to moderate, with the lowest rise in the last two decades, a symptom that perhaps tourist demand is already starting to be sensitive to tariffs. It is precisely this enthusiasm to go on holiday – almost a vital necessity after the stop of the covid – that has kept the records of occupations and visitors high in a context of an inflationary spiral.
During the first seven months of the year, hotels have registered 149.76 million overnight stays, which is 13.5% more than in the same period in 2022 and a figure higher than in the period from January to July 2019 Hotel stays also rose by 2.5% in July compared to the same month in 2022 and reached the figure of 43.1 million, lower than the increase of 3.3% in June, although very close to overnight stays in July 2019 (43.2 million). The average stay, on the other hand, is down 0.6% compared to July 2022, and stands at 3.4 overnight stays per traveler, and also in relation to the same month in 2019 (3.57). Another sign that the rates are starting to make us have to scratch our pockets, as the volume of tourists who have stayed in hotels this past month (12.67 million) exceeds July four years ago (12.1 million four years ago). In other words, with more tourists, fewer overnight stays have been achieved.
And here comes one of the sector’s slight disappointments with the season. The first months of the year worked so well, Easter reached levels of occupancy and spending, that hoteliers could not contain their euphoria. “Expectations were very high, July went well, but less than expected; in August, on the other hand, we see another rise”, says Xavier Guardià, spokesman for the Business Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of the province of Tarragona. Judith Lloverol, manager of Costa Brava Centre, points in the same direction: “During the week, occupancy was a little lower, and it recovered at the weekend with the arrival of more national tourists”.
By origin of the guests, the nights of travelers resident in Spain exceeded 15.3 million in July, which represented 35.6% of the total. For their part, those of foreigners were above 27.7 million.
Tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany accounted for 25.5% and 16.6% respectively of the total non-resident overnight stays, followed by travelers from France, the United States and the Netherlands (8.6%, 4 .8% and 4.4% respectively). Andalusia, Catalonia and the Valencian Community were the main destinations for travelers resident in Spain in July, with 23.8%, 15.2% and 12.8% of the total overnight stays. For its part, the main destination chosen for non-residents was the Balearic Islands, with 34.5% of the total overnight stays. The next destinations were Catalonia and the Canary Islands, with 20.9% and 18.4%.
In July, 70.2% of the places offered were filled, with an annual increase of 1.3%. The degree of occupancy for places at the weekend rises by 1.5% and stands at 74.1%. Barcelona, ??Madrid and Calvià were the tourist spots with the most overnight stays.
