The first Easter without any type of restriction due to the pandemic – a year ago it was still compulsory to wear a mask indoors – will be completed, weather permitting, with occupations equal to or greater than those of 2019. With a season of 'skiing to forget and between 70% and 90% of hotels on the coast already open depending on the area, the tourist forecasts on the Costa Brava, the Costa Durada and the Maresme are very encouraging and point towards record records . To give an example, in the region of Baix Empordà, in the heart of the Costa Brava, occupations ranged between 85% and 90% yesterday for strictly public holidays. "With the last-minute bookings we expect to reach 95%", stated the manager of the Costa Brava Center group, Judit Lloberol.
The same will happen on the Costa Daurada and the tourist accommodations in the interior of Tarragona and the Terres de l'Ebre, which also anticipate an almost absolute full house between Maundy Thursday and Saturday. “Right now we will be around 80% on average; if the weather is favorable, high and perhaps record-breaking employment is expected throughout the coast, but also inland", explains Berta Cabré, president of the Business Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of the province of Tarragona (FEHT).
The weather will be what will end up catapulting or lowering the expectations of an Easter that, as usual, is nourished mainly by family tourism from Catalonia and the rest of Spain and the French, who mostly travel by car. Also thousands of young sportsmen from European countries who, after the pandemic, are once again cheering on destinations such as Lloret de Mar or Salou, which have been certified as sports tourism destinations for years. Between Salou and Cambrils, the arrival of 30,000 national and international athletes is expected, which, together with the accompanying persons, will generate around 120,000 overnight stays in hotels, campsites or apartments.
In Lloret de Mar alone during this Holy Week, more than 13,000 people linked to the celebration of a sporting event will be staying. The star competition will once again be the international MIC base football tournament, in which 360 teams from 34 countries will participate. There will be more than 7,000 participants, including players and members of the coaching staff, who will play the matches in 35 Girona municipalities, of which more than 5,000 will stay in hotels in Lloret, which these days already has 80% of the hotel offer available .
According to data from the Girona Hospitality Federation, the establishments in the south of the Costa Brava that work with sports audiences are already at 90% occupancy; the others range from 82% to 83%, a figure they expect to increase with last-minute bookings. "We will recover the figures of 2019; a year ago we were still suffering from restrictions", acknowledges Elizabeth Keegan, manager of Lloret Turisme, who highlights some symptoms of the first quarter that make them optimistic. "Between January and March, with nearly a third of hotels open, we registered more sports tourists than in 2019", he underlines.
The good feelings and the rate of bookings translate into a high percentage of establishments open when compared to last year. On the Costa Brava, 90% of the hotel plant is operating; in the Maresme, 80%, and in the Costa Daurada the figure is around 75%. At the campsites in the interior of Tarragona and the Costa Daurada, with all accommodation open, occupancy will be close to 85%; and on the Costa Brava, with a lower offer of 65%, forecasts are for 70% plots and 85% bungalows. "The number is similar to last year, we hope to improve it depending on the weather", explains the president of the Girona Camping Association, Miquel Gotanegra. The majority profile, national clientele on public holidays, but also French, Dutch and German, who will end up "saving the month of April", according to Gotanegra.
There are also high expectations for the tourist apartments that will open these days, which account for 70% of the total in the province of Girona. Its president, Esther Torrent, figures at 85% occupancy on the central days of Holy Week, a figure similar to the south.
In the Maresme, with 35,550 places available, the reservations received until yesterday were, according to the president of the Guild of Hotels of this region, Jordi Noguera, over 77%, thanks mainly to the national customer, with stays ranging from the three and four days. A destination that will also receive sports groups and also "Irish cultural groups", although they mostly depend on families. In the Alt Maresme, which concentrates the bulk of the hotel plant, only 50% of the hotels will open these days and in Santa Susanna 90% will. The prospects are good.
