Hosbec takes stock: the variants and measures due to the pandemic weigh down the recovery of the hotel sector

The entity points out that the “long-awaited tourist recovery takes a long time to come “. And that 2021 ends with an irregular hotel occupancy marked by the state of alarm in the first phase of the year, an acceptable summer and the “Omicrón tsunami” at the gates of December. Thus, he added that during the past year, 100% of the hotel plant was never opened at any time and “only August was approximated in figures of available supply to the 2019 data, although in Benidorm, for example, 36,000 of the 44,000 places available.

Hosbec has shelled the occupation data during the year. The first four-month period of 2021 was “marked by the state of alarm and the perimeter closure that kept the borders of the Valencian Community closed until May 9”, a period in which tourist activity was “residual”, since the offer hotel was “little” and the occupancy data was “half of what would correspond in a normal situation”.

From that point on, the sector “began to wake up” and “establishments were opened while demand was stimulated,” according to the hotel management. During this period, the national market was used as an “essential prop, although the city of Valencia maintained an important international pulse with 30% foreign tourists”.

August, the best month

The hotel entity explained that the month of August 2021 “was the month that had the most flavor of August”, since hotel occupancy was between 83% and 90%, figures similar to the reality before the pandemic and that They made the sector think that the tourist recovery “was a reality and that there was no going back to situations of restrictions and limitations.” But this point was reached without counting on the British market, the main international market, due to the Delta variant and, later, Ómicron “ended up leaving British tourists at home.”

This variant not only affected this English market, but also the forecasts for Christmas since it was charged between 20 and 30 hotel occupancy points. The extraordinary closure of hotel establishments is registered especially in Benidorm, while in the rest of the destinations levels of available hotel offer are maintained similar to that of 2019. Of course, the registered occupations “have suffered a lot.” December has ended with an occupancy between 37 and 45%, far from the 80% forecasts that were handled before Omicrón.

Given these data, Hosbec is clear: “There is nothing that advises the implementation of any tax invention in the form of a tourist tax, unless what you want is to destroy a sector that has suffered so much during the pandemic.”

Occupation

Regarding the annual occupation, Benidorm close the last week of the year with 53.1% occupancy, thus ending a 2021 of great ups and downs that registers a average annual occupancy of 61.3%. A figure far removed from the 84.2% reached in 2019, the last period before the pandemic. with which 22.9 percentage points are left on the road.

With everything. the year begins with minimal figures, accompanied by a practically inactive hotel plant, ending up during the In February, only 3 operating hotels out of the more than 100 associated with HOSBEC. It is from the lifting of the state of alarm and the arrival of the summer season, when the activity begins to resume in the destination.

The month of August is the most prominent with a monthly average of 83.6%, 10 points less than in 2019. The next months with the highest data would be September and October, but it should be noted that they do not reach 70% occupancy when normally these periods border on and even exceed 90%, thanks to dates such as the Pilar bridge or the Todos los Santos bridge.

The month of December returns to record data similar to those of May, making the weeks before Christmas the hardest of the year, accused, above all, by the concern caused by the new variant of the virus. Refering to forecast for the first week of January January 03 and 09, it is expected to start reaching a 33,6%. A record that could possibly vary upwards thanks to the last days of the Christmas period.

2021 ends with a total of 61 hotels associated with HOSBEC opened in Benidorm. However, in this first fortnight several closures are expected, which will lower the figure to around 45 active accommodations, motivated by the lack of demand.

The Costa Blanca (excluding Benidorm) reaches the last week of the year a 42,7% of average occupancy, closing a annual period with 61.2%. The tourist area does not show a fall as abrupt as Benidorm, since it drops a total of 7.6 percentage points compared to 2019 (see the monthly evolution of hotel occupancy in the report’s bar graph).

The end of the state of alarm marks a before and after in the activity, since from May an upward trend is visible that continues until the month of August, when it practically touches 90% occupancy and data is reached very similar to those registered in 2019.

However, it is true that as of August 15, a national holiday, the data begins to lose steam, reaching records during November and December, lower than the months affected by the state of alarm. Some data accentuated, above all, by the uncertainty generated by the omnicron variant.

Refering to forecast for the first week of 2022 of January 03 and 09, this time it is expected to reach the 25% with optimism to improve thanks to the Christmas holidays. 2021 ends with a total of 38 hotels associated with HOSBEC opened in Costa Blanca, a figure that will surely decline in the first half of January for which several closings are expected.