The Spanish tourism industry once again exhibits excellent health with the Easter campaign. Neither the severe drought in key areas for the sector such as Catalonia and Andalusia, nor the resistance of the European Central Bank to lower rates (they will probably wait until the summer), nor the geopolitical situation, with two wars on the doorstep continent, slow down the pleasure travel business.
Hoteliers, travel agencies and airlines consulted agree that the season begins with forecasts of breaking new records, although with great concern about the summer season in the 200 Catalan municipalities where, in theory, swimming pools will not be able to be filled, among other restrictions .
The good performance of reservations, occupancy and prices for these next few weeks, which continue to rise above general inflation in the case of hotels (9% in February), has even surprised the companies of areas affected by the lack of water. Both the cancellation ratio, income and rates were at better values ??at the beginning of March throughout Spain, compared to a year earlier, in particular in Catalonia and Andalusia, according to the Confederation’s Smart Observatory Hotel Sector report Española of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (Cehat) and PWC over the spring season.
“After a very good winter, this Easter we expect average occupations of 85%, a figure that could increase depending on the weather”, emphasizes the president of Cehat, Jorge Marichal. This is a 25% increase on the 2019 data, which confirms the strength of the tourist engine. The sector weighs more than ever on the Spanish economy thanks to the combination of high demand, rising tariffs and job creation. In 2023, it generated 186,596 million euros in activity, according to the latest business balance sheet of Exceltur, the entity that brings together the main companies in the sector. The figure represents 12.8% of GDP, a historic high for this industry.
The big hotel chains confirm the good prospects for these days. From Meliá they explain that their holiday hotels are at a high level of increase in terms of income, “thanks to the two-digit improvement in the average price and a slightly lower occupancy than in 2023”, in because this year Easter is celebrated in March. As for urban hotels, the evolution is even more positive than in the holiday sector, with a double-digit increase in revenue expected, “thanks to the positive evolution of both employment and average rates “. The most popular destinations in Spain for hotel activity are Barcelona (28%), Madrid (17%), Alicante and Seville.
In Hotusa, they point out that if last year was a record year, this 2024 “there are expectations to surpass it”. They consider the same from the Riu chain, in which they value that the early celebration of Easter will contribute to extending the activity of seasonal hotels, with occupations similar to those of 2023. As for Barceló, they emphasize the good evolution of advance sales, “especially in destinations such as the Canaries, Andalusia, Catalonia or northern Spain, regions more susceptible to last-minute sales, where today the average occupancy exceeds that of the year by ten percentage points past”. The estimated increase in the average daily rate is 11%. From the Hesperia chain, immersed in a replenishment of the hotels of its brand, they estimate occupations of close to 85% in all their establishments, while they anticipate that the average daily rate per occupied room (ADR) will increase by 10% compared to to 2023. The hotel company Sercotel, for its part, calculates that occupancy will range between 80% and 90% depending on the day, with a prominent position for its hotels in Barcelona, ??which will reach 95%.
The big hotel chains confirm the optimism they showed at Fitur, the main sector fair in Spain, at the beginning of the year. The same goes for the airlines, which have launched an unprecedented schedule for this summer air season (from the end of March to October) in Spain, with a growth in seats of 7.9%. “We believe that we will exceed the traffic recorded last year around this time, a year 2023 that was already a record”, says Javier Gándara, president of the ALA airline association.
The travel agencies associated with Acave also expect an increase in bookings of between 5% and 10% compared to last year, with a similar increase in prices. Nor have they so far detected any cancellations in the destinations affected by the persistent drought, says the president of Acave, Jordi Martí. The tour operators who fill many of the hotels in the coastal areas and the islands follow with uncertainty the evolution of the lack of water and the measures to alleviate it, but for now they are waiting to have more visibility about the summer to take a decision, and the business in Spain, and in particular in Catalonia, has not suffered from it so far. On the contrary, more tourists are arriving than ever before. The country broke records in 2023 with more than 85 million international visitors and for this 2024 an increase of 3.8% is estimated, according to calculations by Caixabank Research, accompanied by an increase in spending.
Spain, according to all the analyses, is consolidating itself as a safe tourist destination in the face of the turbulence of competing markets. The lack of water resources and the heat waves in the summer do not stop demand, for now.
