The coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on Spain's hotel sector despite the ending of the State of Alarm and the return to free movement in the country at the end of June, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Although the country's tourism sector was widely expected to recover in July, a report published by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) on Monday shows that hotel occupancy rates were lagging as foreign tourists failed to arrive and domestic tourist numbers were below normal levels.
The INE reports that overnight stays in hotels fell in July by 73.4 percent to 11.5 million compared to the same month in 2019, while the average nightly room rental price fell by 41 percent to 29.7 euros (35 U.S. dollars) due to low occupancy.
A total of 4.33 million tourists stayed in Spanish hotels in July. Of them, 3.2 million were Spanish nationals. Only 62.5 percent of the country's hotels were open, with the rest opting to remain closed despite this being the peak season.
All this had a knock-on effect on jobs: the sector employed 59.3 percent fewer people than a year ago (282,603 in 2019, 114,990 in 2020).
Hotels also lowered their room rates in an effort to be more attractive at a time when many people preferred to stay in apartments, go camping or travel to second homes rather than risk staying in a hotel. The INE report said that the average stay was just 2.7 nights per traveler, even though the establishments lowered their prices by an average 8.2 percent compared to July 2019.
The traditional holiday destinations of Andalusia, Catalonia and the Comunidad Valenciana were the most popular destinations among Spaniards, but even there occupancy rates fell by 46 percent, 48 percent and 60.2 percent, respectively, while the Balearic Islands were the most popular with foreign visitors.