On the beach in Mallorca this week

On the beach in Mallorca this week | miquel a. canellas

Humphrey CarterPalma11/04/2022 15:13
TW
0

The Spanish hotel sector believes that the forecasts for Easter “are very positive”, despite the effects of the sixth wave of Covid caused by the omicron variant.
The president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat), Jorge Marichal, explained yesterday that the elimination of the restrictions “is proving very positive” for the sector.

“There is a great desire to travel and we are seeing that the domestic market is performing very well this Easter,” while Marichal, added that the international market is recovering very quickly.

As for the destinations this Easter, Cehat pointed out that the most popular places are still sun and beach resorts and that there is “very high demand”.
However, rural tourism continues to be in high demand with the domestic market, “the pandemic appears to have sparked a surge in interest in discovering and exploring Spain,” he said

“Spanish tourists will continue to choose to holiday in Spain, especially more rural locations while international tourists will focus more on the coast, in places such as the Valencia, Andalusia, Catalonia coast, the Balearics and the Canary Islands," said the president of Cehat.

The hotel sector is concerned about the rise in prices, which “is already affecting the industry” and the impact the war in Ukraine is having on family budgets, “and this will have repercussions on holiday buying and saving decisions”.
In addition, Marichal pointed out that the rise in energy prices is becoming a “serious problem for the industry’s income”, as this rise also implies a rise in interest rates.

Cehat is concerned about the war in Ukraine and its “geopolitical effects”, which is already affecting the sector due to the closure of airspace to flights from Russia.
“Russian tourists are very focused on certain Spanish tourist destinations and that is where the most damage is being done,” he said.

Spain is losing more than 1.4 million Russian tourists, 2% of the total number of tourists , who come with “high purchasing power and a greater spending capacity”.
As a result Cehat has asked the government to “lend a hand” at a promotional level to “replace Russian tourists”, who have stopped coming to Spain, “for other tourists that we can quickly bring” to those areas that used to focus Russian tourism.
“We are asking for campaigns to help destinations can overcome the negative impact of the war.”