Spain is among the most popular destinations in the world for tourists this Easter, according to forecasts by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and ForwardKeys, a leading Spanish company in traveller analysis.
“The year 2022 has started with a sustained recovery in tourism achieving 72% of the pre-pandemic levels, a positive evolution despite the uncertainty generated by the omicron variant,” said the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
She also referred to the consequences of Putin’s war and the Response Plan approved by the Government that will make available 16,000 million euro in public aid, a plan that aims to reduce energy costs, help companies and groups most affected and generate confidence in the Spanish economy.
The latest ForwardKeys air booking issuance data for international arrivals to Spain at Easter also shows an optimistic outlook. Air arrivals into Spain are expected to be only 13% below the values of Easter 2019, while domestic air travel is on par with pre-pandemic values, just 1% under.
“Throughout the pandemic we have seen a large amount of frustrated demand, which has translated into renewed interest from travellers each time restrictions allowed travel again; in this new phase of the pandemic, Spain is recovering rapidly to the point of values prior to the start of the crisis. This Easter we expect traditional origin markets such as the United Kingdom or Germany to exceed pre-pandemic levels of arrivals,” said Juan A. Gómez García, head of Market Intelligence at ForwardKeys.
The most recovered main source markets that will travel to Spain this Easter include Denmark (+44%), Sweden (+39%) and Colombia (+37%), followed by Germany (+26%) and the United Kingdom (+13 %), all exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
The favourite destinations for foreign travellers will be the Balearic Islands (+14%), the Canary Islands (-3%) and the Valencian Community (-3%), with Ibiza (+34%), Palma (+12%) and Tenerife ( +7%) leading the ranking of Spanish cities that recover the most travellers, all growing with respect to 2019.
