Hotels’ summer season hit hard by virus
Figures released this week confirm downturn
OCCUPANCY figures for tourism accommodation in the Valencia region for the third trimester of 2020 were hit badly by the Covid19 pandemic.
Hotelier’s association HOSBEC have published their report, which shows a 65.5% drop on last year’s figures for the months of July, August and September.
On average 933 hotels were open, 17.3% fewer than in 2019 – with a 47.6% reduction in those employed in providing services within the sector.
As a whole, the Costa Blanca saw 55.4% fewer visitors staying in hotels and of those that did register overnight stays, 80% were by domestic travellers from within Spain.
International tourists registered
only 353,000 overnight stays, with an average duration of just 2.7 days.
Benidorm suffered catastrophically from the collapse in visitor numbers from other countries, with an 80.7% drop in overnight stays.
In the resort, international tourism fell by 86.8% and overnight stays by 91%.
Benidorm’s traditional high summer season was virtually wiped out due to restrictions on mobility.
The UK’s 14day quarantine rule led to a deluge of cancellations and, as a consequence, hotels closing their doors due to a lack of bookings.
In 2019 British visitors made up 41.3% of the tourism market in Benidorm.
During the threemonth period, only 69 hotels in the resort remained open with only 35% of employees working.
According to statistics provided by INE data, 45.3% of hotel rooms were occupied compared to 91.2% in the same period last year.