ONCE again, Spain holds more blue flags for its beaches and marinas than any other country in the world – a record it has held without interruption for 30 years.
Hotels, flights and package holidays rise in price
06/09/2017
PACKAGE holidays and hotel rooms have gone up in price all over the world – including in Spain – this year, although increasing costs have not affected demand at the top end of the market.
In Spain, package deals rose in cost by 8.4% in July based on a year previously, being 16.1% higher than in June.
Costs of holidays to Spain typically rise towards the end of June and contine to be high in August, due to the excellent beach weather and school holidays, although for travellers not dictated to by the latter, September is an ideal month for a beach break since it is still hot in the south, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean and the prices tend to be much lower.
Organised trips within Spain have risen in price year-on-year by 24.7%, deals which cover everything from flight-airport transfer-resort packages through to coach tours with guided excursions.
Prices of holidays abroad leaving from Spain have gone up by an average of 6% in the last year.
But the availability of multi-destination holidays is now greater, since more flights and routes exist allowing travellers to combine trips to more than one country and several destinations within the same country.
Flights have become more expensive, though – in the first seven months of this year, air travel within Spain rose in price by 6.2% and, abroad, by 11.8%, with ferry travel rising by 1.8%.
Hotels in Spain went up in price by 2.1% year-on-year in July, and the aggregate increase during 2017 was 2.6%.
Those in the Balearics rose the most, by 7.3%, followed by hotels in Navarra (5%).
Barcelona, Castellón and Guipúzcoa (Basque Country) were the provinces with the sharpest hotel-room cost hikes, at 2.9% between July 2016 and July 2017.
Juan Luis Nicolau, faculty leader in tourism, management, business and economics at Virginia Techological University (USA), says the proliferation of tourist apartments is coming at a cost to hotels.
In practice, however, these two types of accommodation cater for very different markets – self-catering apartments and villas are ideal for families and groups of friends, whilst hotels continue to be favoured by singles and couples or friends in pairs.
Nicolau, one of the top 25 tourism industry researchers in the world, says price hikes have not affected demand at the higher end of the travel market – those who typically opt for five-star hotels are the type who are willing to pay extra for quality and comfort and have the means to do so, meaning an extra few euros on the bill is not an issue.
Hotel price rises are tending to affect the middle of the market instead, Nicolau explained in his article in the magazine Tourism Management Perspectives – those between two and four stars are finding that their guests stay for fewer days than a year or so back.
But recent figures show that, these days, tourists travelling to Spain tend to stay less time but spend more when they do so – less money spent on accommodation means they can afford to push the boat out more once at their destination, meaning a higher turnover of bigger-spending visitors.
International tourists in Spain have reached record highs this year – July alone brought 10.5 million visitors to the country, of whom nearly a quarter were British, and before August started, the total number of foreign holidaymakers in Spain equalled that of the resident population.
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PACKAGE holidays and hotel rooms have gone up in price all over the world – including in Spain – this year, although increasing costs have not affected demand at the top end of the market.
In Spain, package deals rose in cost by 8.4% in July based on a year previously, being 16.1% higher than in June.
Costs of holidays to Spain typically rise towards the end of June and contine to be high in August, due to the excellent beach weather and school holidays, although for travellers not dictated to by the latter, September is an ideal month for a beach break since it is still hot in the south, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean and the prices tend to be much lower.
Organised trips within Spain have risen in price year-on-year by 24.7%, deals which cover everything from flight-airport transfer-resort packages through to coach tours with guided excursions.
Prices of holidays abroad leaving from Spain have gone up by an average of 6% in the last year.
But the availability of multi-destination holidays is now greater, since more flights and routes exist allowing travellers to combine trips to more than one country and several destinations within the same country.
Flights have become more expensive, though – in the first seven months of this year, air travel within Spain rose in price by 6.2% and, abroad, by 11.8%, with ferry travel rising by 1.8%.
Hotels in Spain went up in price by 2.1% year-on-year in July, and the aggregate increase during 2017 was 2.6%.
Those in the Balearics rose the most, by 7.3%, followed by hotels in Navarra (5%).
Barcelona, Castellón and Guipúzcoa (Basque Country) were the provinces with the sharpest hotel-room cost hikes, at 2.9% between July 2016 and July 2017.
Juan Luis Nicolau, faculty leader in tourism, management, business and economics at Virginia Techological University (USA), says the proliferation of tourist apartments is coming at a cost to hotels.
In practice, however, these two types of accommodation cater for very different markets – self-catering apartments and villas are ideal for families and groups of friends, whilst hotels continue to be favoured by singles and couples or friends in pairs.
Nicolau, one of the top 25 tourism industry researchers in the world, says price hikes have not affected demand at the higher end of the travel market – those who typically opt for five-star hotels are the type who are willing to pay extra for quality and comfort and have the means to do so, meaning an extra few euros on the bill is not an issue.
Hotel price rises are tending to affect the middle of the market instead, Nicolau explained in his article in the magazine Tourism Management Perspectives – those between two and four stars are finding that their guests stay for fewer days than a year or so back.
But recent figures show that, these days, tourists travelling to Spain tend to stay less time but spend more when they do so – less money spent on accommodation means they can afford to push the boat out more once at their destination, meaning a higher turnover of bigger-spending visitors.
International tourists in Spain have reached record highs this year – July alone brought 10.5 million visitors to the country, of whom nearly a quarter were British, and before August started, the total number of foreign holidaymakers in Spain equalled that of the resident population.
Related Topics
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