Spanish Tourism looking positive for the summer months

Juan Molas, president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourism Accommodation (CEHAT) said “In 2013 we hope to leave recession behind in the tourism sector.”

In the last two months, industry expectations have changed radically. Before Easter the occupancy forecasts were terribly pessimistic, but now that the high season is in full swing, hardly anybody doubts that this summer is going to be better than the last for Spanish tourism destinations.

The influx of international arrivals has had a lot to do with the conflicts affecting other countries that compete with Spain for sun-seeking tourists, such as Egypt or Turkey, which are causing more German and Russian nationals to choose Spain instead.

Both factors (which have been recurring for the last few years) will combine to conjure a 2013 miracle for the country’s number-one industry, which has come back strongly from the initial effects of the international financial and economic crises.

Yet, for the third year running, Spaniards represent the sad side of the tourism market. The crisis has bitten into families’ travel budgets and a 25-per cent unemployment rate has forced a lot of citizens to forgo their vacation altogether. CEHAT believes that Spanish tourism is going to be very concentrated in the months of July and August, increasing the seasonality that affects the sector. Spaniards are increasingly delaying their vacation decisions, relying on last-minute deals offered by hotels, airlines and travel agencies caught up in a quasi-permanent price war.