This is another blow to the Spanish tourism sector. On Thursday July 15, the Dutch subsidiary of organized travel giant TUI announced the cancellation of all planned trips to the Balearics and the Canaries, as of July 16. On Friday July 16, the Dutch government was expected to officially advise against going there. Germany could do the same.
As for the United Kingdom, it made the decision to remove the Balearics from its list of safe destinations on July 14. As of July 19, only those who have completed their vaccination will be exempt from isolation for fourteen days upon their return.
“This may lead to a drop in bookings, cancellations and possible early returns”, regretted the president of the Hotel Federation of Mallorca, Maria Frontera, while the regional government was quick to recall that 35 million Britons are vaccinated. Until now, both the Canaries and the Balearics had managed not to be treated like peninsular Spain, with their incidence rate being considerably lower. The propagation of the Delta variant has changed that.
The sector represents 13% of the gross domestic product
Spain, which was counting on a sharp rebound this summer in the tourism sector – it represents 13% of gross domestic product (GDP) -, must revise its outlook downwards. International bookings have fallen from 15% to 20% over the past two weeks, following statements from France and Germany advising against travel to Spain, according to the hotel employers’ association, Exceltur.
“If revenues do not continue to grow during this quarter, tourism will generate an activity of 38 billion euros this year. Above the 24.3 billion in 2020, but very far from the 58 billion in 2019 ”, said its vice-president, José Luis Zoreda, on July 14.
It is still difficult, however, to assess the impact of France’s decision to impose a test of less than twenty-four hours back from Spain. Nor that of the restriction measures approved by the autonomous regions to curb this new wave, while these destinations are very popular for partying.
Curfew
Most tourist regions have, in fact, limited social gatherings to ten people and closed discotheques. Starting with Catalonia, where the incidence rate has exploded (600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, in seven days), and hospitalizations have increased by 40%.
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