The Hosbec hotel association assures that if this July is compared with that of 2019, the occupancy forecast is still a little below, but it acknowledges that the rest of the season shows positive data and slight growth. The truth is that in view of the figures of these days, and the images of beaches crowded with tourists and locals, this could be the record summer for international tourism in the Valencian Community.
The latest figures for foreign tourism with a Valencian destination show that between January and April, the Region has received 2,494,662 tourists. On the same dates in 2019, a total of 2,347,283 travelers had visited the Community. There are almost 150,000 more tourists this April, which points to this as a summer with many ballots to become successful, in which the sector could exceed the annual figure of 9.5 million foreign tourists who visited beaches, mountains and cities Valencians the year before the pandemic.
Likewise, in 2022, a year in which the tourism sector already looks face to face for being free of restrictions, the Valencian Community received 8.6 million international tourists, which meant having recovered 90.53% of the previous year. to the pandemic.
"We will exceed ten million tourists, for sure," says Nuria Montes, general secretary of the Hosbec hotel association. “If they told me that the air capacity is below, I would doubt it, but with the planning we have now, it will be exceeded,” she adds. Turisme Comunitat Valenciana shares this optimism and forecasts that there will be 1.3 million more than in 2022 and 500,000 more than in 2019, when the highest figures in the historical series were reached.
With the data for June already closed, the employers estimated yesterday at 90% the hotel occupancy that there will be during the month of July, with the belief that this will grow above that figure in August and September. In their analysis, they perceive that the British give a new 'sorpasso' to the Spanish in Benidorm and exceed their market share in the second half of June with a share of 43.5%.
Hoteliers also highlight the presence of the Portuguese market, and by 2023 they hope to continue with the same trend, making this the second most important market behind the British.
Francesc Colomer, acting regional secretary for Tourism, who is always cautious in his estimates, recently anticipated that "if the positive trend that has marked the first months of this year continues, we can foresee that we will close 2023 with the arrival of 9.9 million of international tourists.
An 'almost touch with your fingers' the figure of 10 million foreign travelers that will be added to that of national visitors, which monopolizes occupancy percentages of up to 60% this summer. In the first quarter of the year there have been 3,224,934 trips made by national visitors to the Valencian territory, with a significant presence of tourists from Madrid.
However, sectors such as the hotel industry expect lower tourist spending from these travelers, as explained by Manuel Espinar, president of the Valencia Hospitality Federation, who reasons that he is already noticing "in a more pronounced way the impact of inflation, the rise in mortgages, the loss of savings accumulated during the pandemic period and therefore it is expected that they will have shorter stays these holidays, since their spending capacity has diminished ”.
Even so, bars and restaurants face the campaign with very good prospects. They maintain that foreign demand is going to be the engine for this summer, generating "the pull" for the months of July and August. "The good occupancy data that hotels manage is going to have a very positive impact on the consumption that these customers make in the hospitality industry," explains Espinar.
The increase in operations at the airports of Valencia, Alicante and, to a lesser extent, Castellón, support the numbers of tourists. At El Altet airport, operations have increased by 15% this past month of May and the number of passengers, by 29.3%. In Manises, growth is 15.3% and 32%. Consequently, in May, the Valencian Community received 937,903 international passengers, 19% more than the same month of the previous year. The majority, 83.3% of passengers, flew with a low-cost airline, registering an increase of 19.9%. For their part, traditional companies with the remaining 16.7% of passengers increased by 15%.
Even the Castellón airport closed June with its highest monthly record, 32,630 passengers. For the first time, the airport has surpassed the barrier of 30,000 passengers and exceeds the figure for May by 22%, with 26,772 users. In the accumulated until June, the airport has added 119,847 travelers arriving from London, Rome, Dublin, Porto or Brussels, among others.
