The growth was despite outbreaks of so-called tourismphobia, the strikes at Barcelona airport, the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in August, the instability in Catalonia, and the recovery in demand for competitor destinations.
The Exceltur survey of profitability and employment shows that the best performance in terms of revenue and employment was in certain Balearic resorts, which outstripped rivals in the Canaries and on the Costa del Sol. Ibiza in particular recorded strong figures, with three municipalities among the top seven for growth in employment and RevPar (revenue per available room). Ibiza Town topped the list with an average revenue per room of 164.20 euros between July and October. There was also a nine per cent increase in employment.
City destinations enjoyed increased demand because of ever more air routes and healthy foreign demand. San Sebastian in the Basque Country was the best performing in terms of RevPar - 138.10 euros.
Tourismphobia has not been because of increased hotel occupancy, suggests Exceltur. In cities which experienced tourismphobia - Barcelona, San Sebastian, Ibiza and Palma - there was a fall in occupancy, and Exceltur doesn't appear to suggest that this fall may have had something to do with incidents. Instead, it is clear where the blame lies for tourismphobia. Citizen reaction against tourism, the report states, is a consequence of an "uncontrolled" increase in holiday rental accommodation. This has been despite regulatory measures introduced by certain town halls, such as Barcelona.
* Exceltur is an association of 23 leading travel and tourism companies. These include Iberostar, Meliá, Riu, airlines and online bookings agencies.
4 comments
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Fools fools, can no one see the politicians are favouring the hotel groups. The island would be a better place if all the ugly hotel buildings were knocked down, removed and then the Island would revert to its former glory
As I’ve posted before I’ve never done all inclusive and stayed in hotels on a room only basis. Therefore I used local restaurants for my breakfast lunch and dinner. Now that you’ve got an anti tourist regime there I won’t be coming. up to five times a year I used to go there. What with the hotel prices going up the tourist tax allegedly doubling and the pound-euro rubbish I’d rather go to Clayton.
Absolute bias bull.. How can can all inclusive hotel customers no matter how many stars they stay in improve the economy, whilst holiday rentals are bad and add to tourismphobia, impossible ! Next season will show when business is bad in the resorts as most will be sat in their hotel having their all inclusive and not spending in bars and restaurants. As for the few coward vandals spraying that spray graffiti they are the ones that should be made to feel unwelcome, not the lovely tourists that help us all survive here !
This is a nonsese article of course. If it's true that there's a saturation of tourists, why did they approve the construction of a sprawling 1,800 bedded multi-block all-inclusive complex in Palma Nova that opened just six months ago. There's going to be self-inflicted major problems in the tourist sector going forwards I feel, with complaints from visitors about a whole range of things. To even suggest that the problem is with apartment rentals illustrates the fact. It would be nice to read some indepedent news here regarding tourism that didn't insult our intelligence.