Spanish tourism companies have been demanding formulas for some time to extend the season beyond September and the data from the sector seem to support their claims. If the weather respects it, September will once again set record figures in hotel reservations and international trips, as it seems August will do once the official data are confirmed. The latest shows how Spain managed to attract more than 10 million tourists in July, 2.6% more than the 2019 record. In August, Aena figures also placed passenger arrivals 1.2% above the figures. from before the pandemic. All these circumstances suggest an increasingly longer tourist season, according to sector sources.
The online travel agency Destinia has highlighted the “very positive” trend in reservations for September and October, with 36% more reservations than last year for this month and 84% for the next, in line with the data positives of the current year. “It is striking that September has more and more weight in summer bookings. In 2019 or 2022, it accounted for 12% of the total booked, and this year it is 14%,” explains Ricardo Fernández, its general director.
“Travelers who have more flexibility, who do not depend on schools or do not limit their vacations to summer, increasingly see the benefits of traveling in this month where there is less crowding, prices are more considerable and the temperature is usually less extreme. … They are also realizing that if they reserve in advance, the prices tend to be more expensive, which justifies the increase in reservations in October, which we understand will gradually equalize with the 2022 data,” he explains.
In Fernández’s opinion, “more and more people are looking to escape the summer season to travel, which helps a lot to make the seasonality of the sector less and less marked.” The good figures for the ninth and tenth months of the year, added to the beginning of the high season in the Canary Islands, mean that “more and more we are talking about a longer tourist season in our country.” The director of Destinia adds to this the significant number of foreigners who always spend their winters in Spain and the increasing connectivity between both sides of the Atlantic. “This winter can be very powerful for international tourism in our country,” he concludes.
American tourists, the big surprise of the year
The Ávoris business corporation, owner of brands such as Barceló or Halcón Viajes, shows its satisfaction with the sales already generated for the months of September and October: “The behavior is highly satisfactory and for these months we are already at the same sales levels of the year 2019”, highlights Gustavo Serrano, commercial director of the group. However, he is cautious about the possibility of extending the tourist season beyond September, since “as much as we want, the Spanish market is very seasonal.”
The Mallorcan business group highlights the importance of betting on mature markets such as China, the United States or Canada, “in which our country has significant room for improvement,” so that this deseasonalization can occur. They also highlight the tourist opportunities of winter, “such as international trips taking advantage of the long weekends in the latter part of the year,” they explain to this medium.
The Spanish platform eBooking.com has registered an increase in reservations of 10% and in the price per night of 13% taking reservation data for September and October of this year compared to the previous one. The data grows even more if compared to 2021, with 40% more reservations and 25% more prices. Its director, Toni Raurich, reports a significant increase in tourists from the United States (with expected growth of 70%), Poland (+65%) and Latin America, with origins as varied as Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and Chile.
Business and wine, alternative trips
The hotel group Meliá Hotels has released its business travel forecast for the coming months, in which it expects that during the fourth quarter of the year the results of 2019 will be equal, which were already historic for the business travel segment. It does so in line with the macroeconomic forecasts of the sector, where 25% more trips are expected than last year and it is ensured that the pace of recovery is greater than expected, including an increase in average spending.
Finally, the Airbnb platform highlights as a trend the rise of trips to vineyard and wine tourism areas in Spain. According to its internal data, more than a million guests have stayed in accommodations classified within its “Vineyards” category, with notable areas such as Catalonia, La Rioja or the Basque Country. In these places, the accommodation supply has grown by 15% and now exceeds 22,000 places, where typical hosts earn an average of more than 5,300 euros per year. The average rate is around 150 euros per night and the usual public are large groups and families.
