The behavior of the Canary Islands stands out, where hotels improve their occupancy with the “historic” average rates
MADRID, 5 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Meliá Hotels International is very optimistic about this upcoming Easter Week in which, after the recovery of tourism at an international level, the Mallorcan hotel company expects to improve the sales data registered in 2019 by more than 20%. Some destinations stand out in particular Nationals such as the Canary Islands where hotels improve their occupancy and reach historical average rates.
This was revealed by the Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, through his Linkedin account, assuring that tourism is an industry with “immense long-term growth potential” (higher than the global GDP average for the next 10 years) and must regain the job appeal it has always had.
Holy Week has always been the starting point of the holiday season in Spain. With the arrival of spring, seasonal hotels reopen their doors for both national and international travelers. A season that is expected to be very positive for the Meliá hotel company, which is confident that it will even exceed the data for 2019, “a very positive reference year for our industry.”
“Pending confirmation when these days pass and we have the real data on the business generated at Easter by our hotels, we can already anticipate that, as many of us have been anticipating, the tourist outlook is positive,” says the manager.
The holiday hotels in Spain stand out especially during these festivities, although quite favorable figures are also expected for urban hotels located in the main cities of the country, such as Valencia, Seville, Barcelona or Palma.
In the holiday segment, the performance of the Canary Islands is especially noteworthy, where hotels improve their occupancy and historical average rates. On the peninsular coasts, volumes that were not seen last year are recovering, thanks to the push of international markets, and in the Balearic Islands the hotel company is opening a greater number of hotels than in previous years on the same dates, which will allow the season to be extended .
Among them, the hotels located in Calviá, in the Magaluf area, stand out especially, where they seek to achieve “quality and attractive tourism” both for international and national tourism, with Spanish tourists being the second most popular nationality these days. presence in hotels in that area, after the British one.
All this would anticipate, according to the manager, a positive summer, also driven by the return of air connectivity which, already at pre-pandemic levels, will undoubtedly help the return of international tourists to Spain.
Escarrer assures that in addition to Spain, other holiday destinations such as the Caribbean are also experiencing an extraordinary recovery, and if the forecasts are met, they will also experience historic seasons for their tourism.
Escarrer also referred to the importance of attracting talent as a great challenge for the sector in the coming years. In his opinion, the sector has recovered “with great strength” which will allow it to grow again above global GDP until the year 2030. But for this, the retention of talent is essential.
The departure of numerous employees due to the pandemic, as well as the flight of part of the qualified young talent to other sectors, added to an uncontrolled offer of vacation rentals, has caused, according to Escarrer, that many cities and vacation areas suffer a “residential inflation” that makes it impossible for many seasonal workers to find “decent housing”, a problem that worsens in limited territories such as the Balearic Islands.
“The shortage of qualified personnel is a reality and with increasing competition between companies to attract talent, we are facing a great risk for our sector, since for us people are essential,” says the manager.
For this reason, in addition to anticipating recruitment programs in sensitive areas and intensifying its relationship with schools and universities, Meliá has deployed an “intensive program” to attract and retain talent, where in addition to improving the conditions and experience of the employee, training and development plans are offered and, on some occasions, they are even provided with accommodation, especially in sensitive areas such as islands.
“We are an industry of people for people and for this reason, reconnecting with the new generations of workers will be essential for us to continue advancing in the improvement of the quality and sustainability of our tourism,” concluded Escarrer.
