The hotel sector begins September optimistically. Sales have picked up in the last few days, which bodes well for hotel occupancy until the middle of the month at least.
Alejandro Sancho, president of Fomento de Turismo, says that “the level of sales has picked up quite a lot and every day there are a large number of reservations. He warns, however, that “it won’t be as busy as July or August, but will be good or average. The first fortnight is picking up pace, but “the second fortnight is not sold out yet”. This is not discouraging because “right now everything is moving 15 days at time. Hoteliers have already “adapted to this new situation” of operating at the last minute.
José María Ramón, CEO of Neobookings, a booking engine that handles more than 60% of Ibiza’s accommodation, confirmed this boost in sales: “In the last week of August it looked like September would be bleak with a considerable drop. But things have picked up again and it is getting busier. If this momentum is maintained it could be a good month”. The trend continues to be “quite a lot of last minute bookings”. The important thing is that “people are already booking for the whole of September, not just for the first few weeks. The window is now bigger”.
Ramon notes a rise in German tourism (after restrictions were lifted) and says that the Italians, Dutch and French “are still active, at a good pace”. The Spanish market “is decreasing, but continues to make more bookings than the British”.
The president of the Ibiza and Formentera Hotel Business Federation, Ana Gordillo, insists that it is difficult to make forecasts at this stage in the pandemic when “the trend is towards busy weekends, quiet midweeks and, on top of that, last minute bookings. Even making forecasts a week ahead is complicated because everything changes from one day to the next. Even so, she believes that the situation “will be favourable until mid-September. We will have September, at least until the 15th. Then we will have to see how things holds up.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.