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Hospitality spending grows 174% in restaurants and 117% in accommodation

good news for the hostelry in Spain and is that spending has grown by 174% in restaurants and 117% in accommodation, compared to 2021, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulseTM. This report, carried out in eight other European markets – including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Poland – analyzes consumer buying habits to know its evolution in the last two years.

The research findings highlight that as pandemic restrictions ease, people are choosing to spend more on services and experiences rather than material goods. In this way, although spending on this type of goods remains on the rise –spending on electronic devices grows 25%, in furniture 21%, almost 70% in clothing and in the purchase of food 41% – it does not reach the same level of growth as spending in sectors that offer experiences, such as the hotel or restaurant sector.

«Europe is regaining its balance. Consumers are moving from spending on goods to investing in those experiences that they have not been able to enjoy in the last two years. This is great news for experience-focused industries like hospitality.“, says Natalia Lechmanova, senior economist at the Mastercard Institute of Economics, who also highlights that “Despite the rise in prices, the consumer continues to spend, although we have begun to see changes in the way they spend.

Spaniards still prefer shopping in physical stores

Mastercard SpendingPulse also analyzes the volume of sales in retail stores, and the difference between online and physical store purchases made in them. The data shows that sales in retail stores grew by 52% in Spain in May this year compared to the same period in 2021. In addition, Spain tops the list of markets analyzed as the country in which consumption in retail trade has grown the most, followed by the United Kingdom (29%) and France (20%). However, it has not yet recovered the volume of sales prior to the pandemic, since it remains 4% below the sales made in May 2019.

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Mastercard data confirms the reactivation of consumption and although the trend of buying in online stores is growing throughout the world, the report reflects that people still prefer purchases in physical stores: in Spain, face-to-face purchases have increased by 57% compared to 2021, being the market with the highest growth followed by the United Kingdom (42%) and France (35%). On the other hand, Internet sales this year have only grown slightly in Hungary (10%) and Spain (2.5%), while in the rest of the markets they have decreased. In any case, online sales in most of them are above pre-pandemic levels.

«The consumer is the core of the economy“, explains Mark Barnett, president of Mastercard Europe. “With our extensive knowledge of retail, we are able to provide comprehensive, near real-time analysis of trends as we seek to help businesses and governments understand today’s consumer and adapt to their changing needs.”

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