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The year 2023 was record one for tourism in Spain, but everything indicates that 2024 will be even better. The sector has not reached its peak and hoteliers are very satisfied with the figures for the first quarter of the year and the outlook for a record-breaking spring, especially with Easter week being brought forward to March this year. Occupancy will be 14% higher than that recorded in the spring of 2023, according to data presented on Tuesday by the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat), and it already exceeds that of 2019 by 4% , so far the record year.
"In the first quarter of 2023 we had not yet surpassed the occupancy of 2019, although the year then ended very well. However, in 2024 we have already beaten that level," said Jorge Marichal, president of the hotel employers' association. Spring will start with an "extraordinary" level of occupancy, with fewer cancellations and more advance bookings, which gives a lot of "stability" to business. Currently the already guaranteed occupancy is 45%, which is an increase of more than 10% over 2023 levels, with online searches for travel from France and Italy up 25%.
6% tariff increase
Hotel rates increase by 4% to 6% in the first quarter of 2024, but the occupancy has not suffered.
These occupancy levels are pushing up prices, which in the first quarter of 2024 have risen by between 4% and 6%, although with specific dates being much more expensive: "The first days of Easter are not worth the same as the public holidays", explained Ramón Estalella, secretary general of Cehat, who also indicated that the price rise is "in line" with inflation in the first three months of the year. In addition, the employers' association pointed out that this year there will be a "better distribution" of occupancy between ski resorts, urban, beach and culturally attractive destinations due to the Semana Santa processions.
Price rises follow in the wake of the large increases in the winter, where tariffs were 27% higher in nominal terms than in 2019. Even discounting inflation, they were 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The destinations that are registering better ADR (average daily room rate) levels in their hotels are the Madrid region (19 points above the levels of the first quarter of 2023), Canary Islands (+14 points), Andalucía (10) and Catalonia (10).
"It looked like things were going to stop, but the music is still playing. The data shows that clients are still demanding hotel stays," said Marichal, who warned that the high occupancy levels for Easter week are unusual: "If you haven't booked already, do it now," he said.
These optimistic forecasts raise the question of whether the tourism model is sustainable in the long term, and how high the number of tourists arriving in Spain can grow. But the confederation is clear that what is important is not the number, but the quality of these tourists and the money they spend in Spain.
Many hotels are no longer closing in winter because the milder temperatures in those months mean that the low season is much shorter . "Travel is no longer concentrated only in August and Easter, but is much more evenly spread throughout the year, which is very good news for the hotel sector," Estalella pointed out.
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