The tourist Holy Week in the Valencian Community has exceeded the expectations and forecasts of the hotel sector and the definitive data shows that last-minute reservations have allowed the average hotel occupancy to rise above 85%. Urban destinations have been greatly favored and have touched technical full, as shown by the 92% occupancy rate registered in the city of Alicante and 91.5% in Valencia. Towns like Altea (96%) and Benicássim (95%) have even surpassed those records.
Sources from the Hosbec hotel association indicate that the general balance is very positive for the hotel sector, tourist accommodation and destinations. However, President Fede Fuster points out that "now we are not obsessed with counting tourists. Our objectives are economic and future sustainability."
These good data, which has boosted last-minute bookings, motivated above all by the sunny weather, have allowed the hotel accommodation industry to accumulate bookings in a way that has not been seen for a long time. According to Hosbec, all destinations have performed well, and most of them register occupancy rates above this average.
In addition to the common circumstances, destinations such as Benicàssim or Alicante have benefited from the celebration of two festivals, the SanSan and the Negrita respectively.
The president of Hosbec has recognized that "these are very good data for the hotel industry, better even than our most optimistic forecasts, which brings us to the summer tourist season that is now beginning with good prospects", but recalls that "now we are not obsessed with counting tourists or breaking records, the year 2023 will be the tourist season in which we have objectives of profitability and future sustainability, both social and economic".
Fuster recalled that "the British market has not yet recovered the level of 2019, because if it had, Benidorm would have easily exceeded the figure of 90% average occupancy" and it has remained at 86%, with hotels achieving the highest occupancy of 3 stars that practically touch 90%, followed by the 4 superior stars with 86.5% and those of 4 stars with 83.9%.
The tourist area of the Costa Blanca (not including Benidorm) registers the figure of 87.9%, with 3 and 5 star hotels leading the way with occupancy of 91%. However, it should be noted that 4-star superior and 4-star hotels are not far behind with 89.8% and 88.7 respectively. The towns on the Costa Blanca closest to full capacity have been Altea, where it has exceeded 96%, followed by the city of Alicante (92.2%), Calpe (88.1%) and L'Alfàs del Pi (86 .7%).
The province of Valencia is the area that collects the best data, approaching 91% occupancy during these days and that is that 72.7% of the Hosbec associates in the province have exceeded 90%, some of them hanging the sign of complete. Breaking down by hotel category, 3-star hotels once again top the list, registering 97%, followed by 4- and 5-star hotels with 88.3%. Valencia city and Gandía, with 91.5% and 89.8% respectively, have been the most successful destinations.
Finally, in the province of Castellón the occupancy rate for Holy Week has reached 83.2%. The 4-star hotels raise their occupancy to 85.8%, while the 3-star hotels register 83.9%. In a more detailed analysis of the destinations in the province, Benicàssim practically touches technical full thanks to the impulse of the San San music festival, and Peñíscola scores 81.6%.
