The second half of August has confirmed the trend: all Valencian tourist destinations are already close to, and in some cases exceed, the occupancy data prior to the pandemic. Hotels have maintained their occupancy rates above 90%, with figures similar to 2019.
According to the analysis provided by the hotel management Hosbec, "the national market continues to be key to boosting occupancy in various destinations such as Castellón, Gandia and some points on the Costa Blanca. Music festivals such as Rototom in Castellón, or the Boombastic in Alicante, are having a great impact on their destinations since, thanks to their first-rate posters, they are being a real tourist attraction."
With regard to the international market, its influence in its traditional destinations stands out, such as the city of Valencia or Benidorm. In the city of skyscrapers, the strong growth of the Portuguese market stands out compared to the previous fortnight, even doubling its importance and thus supplying the lower share of the British market on these dates.
Specifically, Benidorm registers 92.4% occupancy from August 16 to 31, staying just 2 points behind what was registered in 2019. This closes a month of August that reaches the figure of 92.2%, also very about 94.4% in 2019. International tourists account for 59% of the total compared to 41% of domestic tourism.
The British market leads the table of foreign nationalities with 29.6%, followed by Portuguese (14.1%), French (2.3%), Italian (2%), Dutch (1.8%), Irish (1.6%), Romanian (1.5%) and Belgian (1.4%).
By the beginning of September, Benidorm already has 87% reservations, with a guarantee of exceeding this data, approaching 90% again in part thanks to the celebration of the Benidorm Pride Festival 2023 that takes place from September 4 to 10. .
The Costa Blanca area (not including Benidorm) recorded an occupancy rate of 90.5% during the second fortnight, putting the finishing touch to a month of August that, with 91%, is only 1.2 points away from reaching 2019 records.
Tourists of national origin increase and are maintained compared to the last fifteen days, achieving 67.8% of the total, compared to 32.2% internationally. After the Spanish market, the most prominent nationalities are British (8.2%), French (3.9%), Belgian (3.2%) and Dutch (2.7%). The next most representative, located between 2% and 1%, have been German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish and Norwegian.
Regarding the forecast from September 1 to 15, there are already 82% of rooms reserved, a positive figure that will increase with later reservations.
In the city of Alicante, hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 94.7% during the second fortnight. There is a balance between national and international tourists, the domestic market accounts for 47.1% and the international 52.9%. The latter shows a great variety of nationalities, among which the British (8.2%), French (7.8%), Italian (6.6%), German and Dutch (3.9%) and Irish ( 4%). Between 2.5% and 1% are other markets such as Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Algerian, American, Portuguese or Czech.
Regarding the days from September 1 to 15, the hotels in the sample already have 84.8% of rooms reserved, a figure that will be exceeded as in previous periods.
During the second half of August, the province of Valencia reached an occupancy rate of 89%, exceeding the data for 2019 by 1.4 percentage points. Data with which an average of 89.4% is reached in the month of August, increasing the data from the last year before the pandemic by slightly more than one point.
Domestic tourism represents 56.6% and international tourism covers the remaining 43.4%. As the international market leader on this occasion, the Italian is found again with 7.3%, followed in the following positions by the Dutch (5.4%), French (5%), British (4.8%), German (3.5%) and American (3.3%). With a representation between 3% and 1%, there are, among other markets, the Portuguese, Romanian, Belgian, Ukrainian and Irish markets.
Current reservations for the first days of next month are fixed at 83.3%, looming a last-minute boost as in previous fortnights. The hotels associated with Hosbec in Valencia city and Gandía registered 86.7% and 96%. Exceeding in both cases the records of the year 2019.
The province of Castellón scores 87.7, which is 1.7 percentage points away from reaching the records of the previous fortnight. With this data, the province closed August with 88.5%, which represents a growth of 9.2 percentage points above the previous month.
Following the usual trend of the destination, the national market leads the nationalities with 82.2%. Figure that does not change greatly from previous records due to the predilection of Spanish tourists for this province. The remaining 17.8% belongs to international tourism, led by the French market with 5.5%, followed by the German market with 2.5%, the British (2.1%), and the Belgian (1. 3%).
For the first fortnight of September, the hotels in the province of Castellón foresee a volume of reservations above 71.2%, hoping to be able to exceed this figure with last-minute reservations as usual.
