Tourist activity in Spain does not slow down in the final stretch of the year. The extension of the season detected by hotel companies, airlines and Aena anticipates record spending for the whole of 2023, which reaffirms the weight of the sector in the country's economy. Until September alone, the 66.5 million international travelers who arrived in Spain spent 84,608 million euros, 24% more than in the same period in 2022 and 15.1% above 2019, the latest data from the INE indicate.
The rise in prices for accommodation and other tourist services does not explain all this increase in spending. The Ministry of Industry and Tourism also detects longer stays, which has boosted average spending by 7.9% annually, up to 1,271 euros per visitor in September. “Spain does not only count on the number of tourists,” insisted the acting minister of the sector, Héctor Gómez. The numbers of foreign travelers are close to the pre-pandemic numbers, but their profile is also changing, with a significant growth of Americans, who spend more in hotels, restaurants and luxury stores, as well as the gradual return of Asians.
The latest numbers provided by some of the main companies in the sector also indicate that tourism demand and consumption are maintained despite the situation and will break records at the end of the year. Aena is on track to surpass the passenger record in Spain, with a forecast of 280 million travelers for the whole of 2023, two percentage points above 2019. Until September, the airport manager transported 216.6 million passengers, a 17.6% more than in the same period of the previous year, with increases in both national traffic (14.6%) and international traffic (19.2%). A better than expected summer season and the forecasts released by the airlines for the winter, with the largest seat schedule in their history in Spain, thus guarantee a very good year in terms of activity.
In the results section, the listed company chaired by Maurici Lucena hopes to reach pre-pandemic profit. Until September it earned 1,139 million euros (with financial extraordinary items), which is 71.3% more than in the first nine months of 2022 (664.7 million euros), and a figure similar to that of 2019 (1,114. 2 million euros), as reported yesterday by the company to the CNMV. Its shares advanced 5.46% in yesterday's session.
The Meliá hotel company, owned by the Escarré family, also confirmed good prospects for the last quarter, with an “extension of the holiday season in the main destinations and a strong boost from the urban segment in the face of the conference season.” “The positive pace of reserves is maintained with no signs of slowdown,” they added in the presentation of results for the first nine months of the year.
The company sees a positive trend both in its vacation hotels in Spain, which allows it to extend the opening season in several destinations, and in occupancy and rates for urban hotels. Barcelona and Seville, they stressed, are leading growth thanks to higher occupancy and prices. Until September, Meliá earned 108.7 million, 71.6% more.
Palladium, the hotel company chaired by Abel Matutes, estimates a positive autumn and winter, in line with the summer season, for its hotels in Tenerife, the Costa del Sol, Madrid and Valencia. The group's hotels in Spain have recorded an average occupancy of 83% in the central summer months (July to September), accompanied by an increase in income per available room of 6%.
In this way, the sector begins to fulfill one of its main objectives, to deseasonalize activity and reduce the temporality of the business.
