Tourism does not lose steam and faces the ‘macro-bridge’ of the Constitution with optimism

The macrobridge of the Constitution, which began this Friday, points well. Although weather forecasts point to rain and cold in most of the country, hoteliers say “there is a great desire to travel.” Renfe has programmed more than 1.5 million seats and Aena forecasts almost more than 44,300 flights until the 11th. The sector remains strong after a good summer and is about to recover the figures from before the pandemic: according to According to the data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Spain received nearly 7.2 million international tourists in October, 39.4% more than in the same month of 2021.

Demand and occupancy are “very positive” in the country’s hotels in nature destinations and in cities, such as Barcelona, ​​which has fully recovered, according to the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), Jaime Marichal, who attributes it to the “desire to travel.” In the Barceló hotel group they are “moderately optimistic” and trust that last-minute sales will be activated, especially towards the Canary Islands. Their occupations vary depending on the destinations, between 40% and 60%, and are somewhat below 2019 (7%) but are up 9% over last year. Iberostar, for its part, points out that its reserves are 5% above the usual for this bridge, while in Riu they have “very positive forecasts”.

With the bridge, plane ticket sales skyrocket. Aena expects to operate a total of 44,342 flights between this Friday and Sunday the 11th, a figure very close to the 45,443 operations achieved in 2019. This Friday will be the day with the highest number of scheduled operations, with a total of 4,865 scheduled flights, followed by Sunday 11, in which 4,815 operations are expected, and Sunday 4, when 4,644 movements will be carried out. The quietest day will be Wednesday the 7th, the day before the second national holiday of this atypical macrobridgein which 3,933 flights will be carried out.

The three airports with the most operations during these days will be Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 9,536 flights, Barcelona-El Prat, with 7,346, and Gran Canaria, with 3,739. Only the airports of Malaga and Gran Canaria have exceeded the 2019 figures for this bridge.

Travel agency on-line Destinia points to a 22% increase in trips by Spaniards on this bridge compared to 2019, a figure that rises to 32% in trips abroad. According to Destinia, the favorite destinations for these dates are Madrid, Benidorm, Barcelona and Seville, while Vigo is once again in the top ten thanks to its Christmas lighting. The Madrid Hotel Business Association forecasts an average occupancy for this week of December of 71%, at rates similar to those of 2019, when the long weekend coincided with the Climate Summit in the capital.

Optimism in the sector

The data for the sector allow us to be optimistic. The summer season was good —tourism recovered 88% of the visitors that arrived before the pandemic— and, according to CEHAT, activity exceeded pre-pandemic levels in September and October, a trend that will continue like this in the winter. All the sector’s activity and profitability indicators are positive: the average profit per available room was 113 euros in the months of September and October, 13% above 2019 levels, just before the outbreak of the pandemic that paralyzed the trips, according to a report presented this Thursday by the hotel employers and prepared jointly with PwC.

According to the INE, in the first 10 months of the year, foreign tourists came mainly from the United Kingdom (with 13.5 million tourists and an annual increase of 311.4%), France (with more than 8.8 million and a increase of 84.4%) and Germany (with almost 8.8 million, 103.0% more). The communities that received the most international visitors in this period were Catalonia, with more than 13.0 million, Illes Balears, with 12.9 million, and the Canary Islands, which attracted more than 9.9 million.

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