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ARCHIVED - Easter tourism boost returns Spain to pre-pandemic levels
Hospitality venues in Spain are still struggling due to the costs of electricity and supplies
As Easter 2022 comes to a close Spain is celebrating a healthy rebound in tourists who flocked to the country’s coasts and cities to bask in the summer-like sun this Holy Week. Coastal resorts registered occupancy rates of between 80% and 100%, returning to pre-pandemic levels, while President Sanchez celebrated Spain as being "one of the four most sought-after countries in the world as a tourist destination."
In recent months, Brits have returned to the top visitor spot in Spain, and this Easter was no exception: tourists from the UK exceeded 2019 figures by 12% but the Danes (+42%), Swedes (36%), Germans (31%) and Colombians (29%) also made a big comeback this year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
The president remarked on Monday April 18 that despite the rise in prices sparked by the war in Ukraine, “the data is frankly positive,” but hospitality bosses have noted that although tourist accommodations were practically full during Holy Week, visitors aren’t spending as much as they once did.
Hospitality of Spain confirmed that reservations have recovered figures from 2019, with full terraces, but a definite "containment in spending" has been recorded; between the constantly fluctuating cost of electricity and the increased cost of raw materials, bars and restaurants are still "approximately 20% below the pre-pandemic volume."
Nevertheless, the entire country has received an economic boost in the last week which has “widely exceeded expectations,” according to the Secretary of State for Tourism, Juan Marín, who considers that Spain’s tourism sector is "the economic engine that we needed to strengthen the recovery."
Early forecasts all point to a bumper summer season as well, with industry insiders predicting that tourism figures will have exceeded the historic highs of 2019 by the end of the year, a pre-pandemic season which contributed more than 154,700 million euros.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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