Hotel occupation has been better than expected across Spain for July, thanks to Spaniards and expats opting to take their holidays in Spain rather than travelling abroad.
And despite the UK’s two-week quarantine requirements for travellers from Spain, including returning holidaymakers, and restrictions imposed by other European nations, a total of 15.2 percent hotel guests in July were from Britain and 25.1 percent were from Germany.
Whilst this is still considerably lower than in a ‘normal’ year, it shows the desire to get to Spain in summer remains widespread in northern Europe and bodes well for future seasons when the pandemic is finally under control and everyone free to spend time abroad again.
Although hotel guests coming from France, The Netherlands and Belgium fell drastically, still between two and three in 10 of the usual numbers opted to spend their holidays in Spain.
These figures do not count expatriates in Spain originally from these countries, but refer exclusively to those who have journeyed directly from them and may include residents in them of different nationalities altogether.
Around 50 percent of the usual numbers of residents in Spain – Spaniards and other nationalities – occupied hotel rooms in July, or a total of 7.4 million in total. Holidaymakers from abroad staying in Spanish hotels totalled 4.1 million.
This overall figure of 11.5 million in the month of July represented a fall of 73.4 percent across the board based upon numbers from last year, but is still equivalent to a quarter of the population of Spain and shows that fears of ‘zero tourism’ in summer 2020 are not entirely founded.
And July’s figures were a vast improvement on April, when no hotel rooms at all were occupied except by those resorts which had offered their rooms to hospitals to use for patients, or for hospital workers who opted to live away from home so as not to risk infecting their families.
After April’s 100 percent fall, easing of restrictions meant May saw a 99.2 percent based upon figures from 2019, and June, 95.1 percent, as the country moved through its four ‘phases’ of reopening after lockdown.
About 14.3 percent of the usual numbers of holidaymakers from abroad came over to Spain in July to stay in hotels, according to the National Institute for Statistics (INE).
Some of the 73.4 percent reduction in hotel stays was due to 27.5 percent of the total nationwide opting not to open this summer.
A total of 12,068 hotel complexes, or 62.5 percent of all those in Spain, were operating in July, compared with 5,896 in June, or just under half.
Also, this July has seen the number of rooms available reduced to just over a million, or 52.7 percent of the usual amount for this month.
Given the reduced availability, the reduction in guest numbers appears less drastic than it would be if this was based upon all hotel complexes in the country being open to full capacity, and suggests that those which did open for business in July may have had a better summer so far than expected.
Tourism industry traders are crossing their fingers that, once the pandemic is under control and fewer restrictions apply or natural caution among travellers, those who were unable, or decided not, to take a holiday in Spain this summer will want to make up for lost time and ‘push the boat out’ in 2021 or 2022 – in much the same way as retailers, bars and restaurants found after lockdown was declared over and everyone had a much greater appreciation of simple ‘freedoms’ such as being able to go out for dinner or for a drink.