The hotel sector believes that Easter will be "very positive" despite the sixth wave
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Tourism
The most demanded places continue to be those of sun and beach
The Spanish hotel sector considers that, with a view to Easter, the forecasts «
are very positive«, despite being »limping« from the effects of the sixth wave of infections caused by the omicron variant.
In statements to Europa Press Television, the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat), Jorge Marichal, explained that the elimination of restrictions "is being very positive" for the sector. "There is a great desire to travel and we see that the national issuer continues to be an important issuer this Easter and we are delighted to receive them," explained Marichal, assuring at the same time that international tourists are recovering.
As for the destinations for this holiday period, from Cehat they have indicated that
the most demanded places are still those of sun and beach where there is a “very good demand”. However, inland tourism is still in high demand by national tourists, "discovering that inland Spain that has gained a lot from the pandemic."
«The Spanish tourist is going to continue deciding to visit Spain, especially the interior, and the international tourist is going to focus more on the coast, in places such as the Valencian coast, the Andalusian coast, the Catalan coast, the Balearic Islands and
Canary Islands“, declared the president of Cehat.
Concerns about inflation and the war in Ukraine
The hotel sector is concerned about the rise in prices, which "is already affecting the entire value chain of the sector" and the family economy that "will have an impact on decisions to purchase vacations and savings." In addition, Marichal has pointed out that the rise in the energy escalation is becoming a “serious problem in the income statement”, since that rise also implies a rise in interest“.
Besides,
from Cehat they have shown their concern about the war in Ukraine and its "geopolitical effects", which is already affecting the sector due to the closure of airspace to flights from Russia. "Russian tourists are very focused on certain Spanish tourist destinations and that is where the most damage is done," he stressed.
Spain is no longer receiving more than 1,400,000 Russian tourists, 2% of the total number of tourists who visit our country who come with "high purchasing power and whose spending capacity is greater". In this sense, from Cehat they have asked the public administrations to "lend a hand" at a promotional level to "change those Russian tourists", who have stopped coming to Spain, "for other emitters that we can quickly bring" to those areas that used to target Russian tourism.
"We ask for promotional actions so that these tourist destinations can weather this trick that the war in Ukraine has played on them," he concluded.
