ARCHIVED - Non-hotel tourist accommodation prospers in Murcia

Campsites, rental apartments and rural tourism are generally enjoying a good year

The month of August, the busiest time of the year for tourism throughout Spain, was a good one for tourist accommodation in the Region of Murcia, with 23.8% more people opting to use non-hotel accommodation than in the same month last year.
The picture in Spain as a whole was also positive but less so, with the numbers choosing alternative accommodationup by just 2.6% compared to August 2012 according to figures released by the Central  Statistics Institute.

Within Murcia both the domestic and foreign markets grew, by 20.4% and 40.7% respectively, while the number of nights spent in the establishments concerned also rose by 8.1%. This bucks the nationwide trend, which saw a drop of 1.5%.

This is very much to be expected given the current economic situation, as families avoid more expensive hotel options to try and find better value accommodation, making their money go further. However, it is interesting to see the substantial increase in overseas visitors choosing rental accommodation, reinforcing the comments made by local management agents that they enjoyed a busy summer.

Local rental agents have also commented that the spring has been busy, with those looking for bargain property buys choosing to rent for longer periods before making a decision, ensuring that they are on the ground to pick up the best buys and be in a position to move when the bargain comes on the market.

The star performer among non-hotel accommodation was the sector of rental tourist apartments, which received a total of 32,512 visitors (46.9% more than in August 2012), who spent 230,964 nights in their holiday flats (17% more than last year). Campsites in the Region welcomed 19,913 visitors, 2% fewer than in August 2012.

Summer Rural tourism is weak in Murcia – it is one of the three least preferred regions of Spain in this respect, along with La Rioja and the Canary Islands – but the figures improved significantly in this area, rising 29.7% to a total of 3,066 visitors. Murcia tends to score better in the winter when the areas more popular with Madrid residents, such as Asturias, are colder.

The accumulated annual running total for non-hotel visitors in the Region of Murcia at the end of August stood at 176,213, just over ten per cent higher than at the same point in 2012.