New figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) show that Spain’s tourism industry is struggling vastly due to a loss of British visitors. Spain is usually a hotspot for Britons, with 18.01 million UK tourists visiting the nation in 2019 prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, amid an onslaught of travel and quarantine restrictions, Spain’s tourism traffic fell dramatically, with many restaurants and hotels forced to close their doors in prime hotspots including Benidorm and Magaluf.
The Balearic Islands, in particular, have reported a dramatic 93 percent drop in traffic since 2019.
In 2020, the sunshine destination saw just 223,000 travellers from the UK compared with 3.7 million in 2019. This is a fall of 93 percent.
Numbers reportedly began to plummet from mid-July, when the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) began to advise against all but “essential” travel to the nation.
READ MORE: Spain: Benidorm slammed as ‘unwelcoming’ by Express readers
However, the region was saved by its high season being situated in the winter months.
This meant it was still able to have a largely successful winter season throughout January and February in 2020 before the pandemic took a hold of the world.
Despite this, the number of UK arrivals saw a drop of 88 percent, from 2.5 million visitors in 2019 to approximately 309,000 in 2020.
Across the nation, hotel occupancy fell to between 30 and 40 percent during the summer months, a vast difference from the usual 90 percent occupancy.
“In order to stimulate demand, destinations such as Elche, Alicante, Valencia, Peñíscola, Castellón de la Plana or Benidorm have lowered their average prices to record differences of 35 euros compared to the previous year,” says Hosbec.
According to their latest figures, only half of Benidorm’s hotels managed to open at all in 2020 and the average number of active employees during 2020 was 2,391.
This is a drop of 56.8 percent in active employment.
It is not yet known when, or if, holidaymakers will be able to return to Spain in 2021.
At the time of writing, the FCDO continues to advise against “all but essential travel” to Spain.
Furthermore, holidays are off the cards under the current UK-wide lockdown.
Spain is also denying entry from British travellers, “with the exception of Spanish nationals and those legally resident in Spain.”