Domestic Tourism – Spain’s Saving Grace

 During the peak summer months, Spain was one of the destinations in the world to see its domestic tourism sector get close to pre-pandemic levels with the most resilient destinations for both local and international tourists being the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

Tickets confirmed in September for any future travel versus the same period in 2019 show the Canary Islands as the most desired destination for locals and internationals yet again.

Tickets confirmed for travelling to Spain from abroad, from October to December, are already at 54% of what had traditionally been booked at this time. In the case of the Canary Islands, which face their traditional high season for the international market, reservations are only 16% below the values at the same time in 2019, while for the Balearic Islands, reservations are just 4% below.

The domestic market shows even more robust results: confirmed tickets for October are 30% below the values of 2019 on average, and both the Canary Islands (-2%) and the Balearic Islands (-8%), are set to receive several domestic travellers like that of a normal year such as 2019.

“The frustrated demand, especially in northern European markets, is clear. Considering how short booking windows have become, it wouldn’t be surprising to see many visitors book last-minute getaways in Spain this autumn now restrictions are easing, which would greatly improve the results,” says Juan Gómez, Insights Expert at ForwardKeys.

“The domestic market is another one to consider as ticketing continues to be strong and confirmed tickets for travelling to the islands in October are ahead of 2019 levels,” adds Gomez.

Scandinavia, the top origin source market for Spain this autumn

With tricky travel restrictions and government announcements from Spain’s tourism allies in Germany and the UK, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have now claimed the top three positions in relative terms of reactivated origin source markets for inbound tourism to Spain over successive months, managing to post growth on pre-pandemic levels.

“Travellers want to keep discovering new destinations, they need to get out of their routines and travel, but travel restrictions make this a difficult task. If I were a destination, I’d communicate clear my readiness to welcome tourists back and keep an eye on which markets are open to me and see what kind of effort I can make to communicate to them about my destination. Markets such as the UK will be key this autumn to brighten up the year-end results now that restrictions at origin are easing,” concludes Gomez.

Juan Gomez will be speaking at DestinaXtion this week, on the 30th September at 13:30 about the future of tourism in Spain post-Covid, register to attend this session and click here.