The Spanish tourism sector faces a summer with promising prospects, after two complicated years. The path of progressive recovery is maintained after a 2021 with an activity volume of 88,546 million euros in Spain, which represents 7.4% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Likewise, according to data from the online travel agency Rumbo, tourist sales for summer skyrocket by 34% and spending by 10% compared to 2019.
According to the CaixaBank sector report, the forecasts for the year-end 2022 are that tourism GDP increased by 52.9%, standing at a level of 82% compared to 2019. On the other hand, from Exceltur, they anticipate that the improvement in the recovery of tourism activity in Spain will continue in the second quarter (-15.2% in the second quarter compared to of 2019).
After a first quarter marked by the adverse effects of the Ómicron variant and by the uncertainties derived from the invasion of Ukraine, the second quarter shows the trend of recovery in tourist demand and income. “Despite all the apocalyptic forecasts of war, epidemics, inflation and droughts, the dominant factor will be the desire to travel”, says Jordi Williams Carnes, president of the Leitat Technological Center and professor at TBS Education. In fact, the Russian invasion initially induced a slight slowdown in bookings, but it has not prevented a gradual improvement in sales already in March (-22.3% compared to March 2019), as indicated by the data collected in the Exceltur report on ‘Tourism Perspectives’.
Trends in the tourism sector for the summer
The Spanish domestic demand continues to be the main support of the tourism sector at this start of the year. However, last March there was a notable revival of foreign demandwith Spanish holiday destinations being the most popular among European travellers, with an increase in arrivals for the first quarter estimated by the World Tourism Council at 320% compared to the previous year.
TBS Education highlights the importance of guarantees: ‘People want to travel with safety nets’. In addition, travelers are aware of sustainability and quality. Lastly, there is a clear tendency to ‘travel with purpose’, either for personal enrichment or to reconnect with family, partner or friends after these hard years.
Challenges faced by the Spanish tourism sector
In order to ensure the reputation of the destinations and the satisfaction of its customers, Carnes presents four challenges to be faced within the Spanish tourism sector:
- Good welcome to the visitor. Airline and airport management conflicts can negatively affect the visitor experience. Therefore, it is important to coordinate accommodation information with the airports. “City, accommodation, and airport it is a single triangle”, reveals Carnes.
- Hotels as ambassadors of destinations. The receptions of the hotels should be the information points of the destinations. Having relevant information (public transport, pharmacies, museums,…) reinforces the positive image of the destination and the accommodation. “The manager of a hotel cannot be only inside, he must be connected with the city, with the neighborhood”emphasizes Meats.
- Create added value for the visitor. The proper use of visitors’ personal data is essential when providing valuable content and information and, in this way, improving the customer’s stay as well as the image of the establishment or destination.
- new hospitality based on sustainability, culture, gastronomy, health, sport, history, digitization and innovation. Ensuring a complete and positive experience will guarantee the success of the industry.
“The sector needs young profiles that provide this new tourist experience”, reveals Deborah Carrer, program manager of the Tourism & Hospitality Management master’s degree at TBS Education. This training equips students with the necessary skills to design and execute tourism and hospitality management strategies.
