Spain expects Easter bounce to lift tourism to 80% of pre-COVID levels
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain expects worldwide vacationer arrivals to succeed in 80% of pre-pandemic volumes within the second quarter as northern Europeans shrug off considerations over the Ukraine battle and return en masse for Easter, a senior tourism official mentioned on Friday.
“Easter is not exhibiting any direct impression from uncertainty attributable to the battle,” Secretary of State for Tourism Fernando Valdes mentioned, including that he was assured the business would bounce again from the drop attributable to the Omicron coronavirus variant in late 2021 and early 2022.
Any future hit from the conflict to Spanish tourism would depend upon its period and depth, he advised a information convention.
Bookings for the lengthy Easter weekend have already reached 90% of 2019 ranges, in accordance with information from market-intelligence agency ForwardKeys he confirmed on the information convention.
Reservations from Denmark and Sweden have been almost 40% greater than over the identical interval earlier than the pandemic, whereas the quantity is 26% greater for Germans and 13% for Britons, the information confirmed. The variety of vacationers from the US is round 26% decrease than in 2019.
The Balearic and Canary Islands are among the many quickest recovering locations, with Ibiza and Tenerife registering extra Easter bookings than earlier than COVID, the ForwardKeys information confirmed.
(Reporting by Corina Pons; Enhancing by Nathan Allen)
