Spain hopes to break a new tourist attendance record

After two years of lean cows, the country welcomed just over 30 million visitors in the first half, almost six times more than on the same period of 2021.

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“We closely follow the economic situation in Germany, because this is where a large part of our tourists come and, if there is something we learned during the pandemic [of COVVI-19 ], it is to anticipate events, “says Maria Frontera, president of the Federation of Hoteliers de Mallorca (Balearic Islands).

Despite the uncertainties linked to the economic situation, Spain expects to break attendance records this summer, after two years of lean cows. For the tourism of the kingdom, on which depended, before the occurrence of the health crisis, 13 % of jobs and 12.5 % of the gross domestic product (GDP), this long -awaited restart is a relief, because the coronavirus has left Traces. “We had to change our working methods and get used to the last -minute reservations. In 2022, we were able to anticipate a request that was very strong,” adds M me frontera.

According to the latest official estimates, just over 30 million international tourists went to the country in the first six months of 2022, almost six times more than the same period of 2021. “This Represents 80 % of the prepaandic volume, “said Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto, speaking of” extraordinary “results on Tuesday August 2. This summer, she said, tourists “spend more and stay longer”.

Despite the inflationary spiral, which reduces the purchasing power of visitors and the margins of the sector, “the travel fever that has spread throughout Europe in recent months” has resulted in a “Rebound dazzling of attendance,” said Exceltur, the employers’ federation of the estate in early July. The momentum should continue during the rest of the season.

“high cost increase”

The British were the first to take advantage of the Spanish sun (6.5 million), followed by the Germans (4.4 million) and the French (3.9 million). They mainly visited the Balearic Islands (26.3 %), Catalonia (21.6 %) and Andalusia (13.5 %). A providential windfall for a sector disaster victims by the COVVI-19, which had broken all records in 2019: 83.7 million tourists had then spent more than 92 billion euros in Spain.

Dimol to this exponential growth: the influx of tourists will not be completely reflected on the result of companies in the sector, faced with “a high increase in costs, especially in energy (+ 25 %) and food (+ 16 %), which can only be partially repeated on prices, “explains Exceltur, which evokes an uncertain fall.

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/Media reports.