Tourism activity in Spain was more dynamic than expected in the first quarter and should pick up even more in the coming months, despite the fallout from the war in Ukraine, Exceltur reports.
“The desire to travel after two years of restrictions” related to the Covid-19 epidemic proved stronger than “fears related to the Omicron option or security issues” as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Exceltur said in a statement.
According to the Association, which reports a “strong upward trend” in travel sales and bookings since mid-February, the gross domestic product (GDP) generated by the tourism sector has admittedly remained 15.8% below 2019 levels in the first three months. of the year.
But “the figure is better than expected” by the organization, which had expected activity levels “nearly 30% lower” than before the pandemic, Exceltur Vice President José Luis Zoreda said at a press conference.
According to an employers’ association spokesman, the prospects for a recovery in tourism are encouraging for the second quarter, and especially for the week of Easter (Holy Week), a key time for Spanish tourism: sales during this period could reach “90% of 2019 levels,” he said.
By autonomous communities, Extremadura (3.8%), Navarre (2.5%), Aragon (2.3%), Castilla-La Mancha (2%) and Cantabria (0.6%) will exceed the sales of the last Holy Week before the pandemic. Madrid rounds out the list, still at -7.6%, but Zoreda wanted to contextualize the data, which he considers “very positive” from the previous drop, when it was close to 24%.
During the whole of 2022, the GDP generated by tourism should reach 141.7 billion euros. This figure is slightly lower than in 2019 (155 billion), but significantly higher compared to 2020 (52 billion) and 2021 (88 billion).
The war in Ukraine, which has had only a “limited” impact in recent months, should only have a marginal impact on sales and bookings: “tourism from Russia and Ukraine” accounts for “barely 1.3%” of tourism in Spain and has already plummeted since the pandemic , says Exceltur.
The organization believes that the tourism sector, on the contrary, should be hit hard by the sharp rise in prices exacerbated by the conflict. This will lead to a “strong deterioration in profitability” and weaken the recovery of tourism, warns José Luis Zoreda. This situation will “impact the coffers” of the companies concerned, “often bled dry due to the pandemic”, and will lead to “debt” problems, Exceltur warns.