After almost a year and a half of pandemic, we are on the verge of the so-called “summer of recovery”. We are entering the long-awaited summer of 2021, the months in which all hope was projected and in which it was expected that tourism indicators would increase positively are coming.
However, these predictions seem to be quite far from reality, because despite the increase in the rate of vaccination, the end of the state of alarm and the reduction of restrictions, the estimated levels of economic and tourist recovery are still not reached. .
Many have come to the conclusion that "Spain is late", because until last June 7, tourists vaccinated with the full schedule were not given free entry into the country, and entry PCR was still required . However, it seems that all is not lost, since the implementation of the digital green certificate is intended to facilitate mobility between European countries, which will increase the tourist flow.
The situation in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands have been one of the communities hardest hit by the pandemic, as a large part of the islands' economy comes from tourism, an activity that reached historic lows last year.
At the beginning of this year, the Canary Islands were expected to be the engine of economic growth in Spain, placing this growth at 8.1%, according to a study carried out by BBVA Research. However, and due to recent data and as a result of the delay in the arrival of foreign tourists, the Canarian economy is expected to grow this year by 6.1%, two points below what was estimated just three months ago. This places the Autonomous Community close to the national average, which is 5.5%.
The economic recovery of both Spain and the Islands this summer after the late arrival of foreign tourism focuses on national tourism. With the end of the state of alarm and with this the end of mobility restrictions, it was expected that the majority of Spaniards will choose to stay in Spain.
Despite this, the rising cost of airline tickets from the Peninsula to the Canary Islands in the months of July and August means that the Islands are discarded from the Spanish vacation plans. In fact, in the Canary Islands only one out of every ten reserves produced in Spain is captured.
Vacation rental market in summer 2021
The vacation rental sector has been, among the notable negative effects that the entire tourism sector has suffered during the pandemic, one of the most reinforced. As we already mentioned in our last post, the consumption models of the new types of tourists have changed, as well as their preferences: compliance with health guarantees, privacy of accommodation and avoiding contact, as well as flexible policies, are aspects that are increasingly taken into account.
Since the arrival of vaccines, there has been a significant increase in vacation rental reservations for this summer. Not only has the number of reservations increased, but the days of average stay have also increased, which also brings a greater benefit.
A study by the Milanuncios platform has detected an increase in the supply of flats for vacation rentals of 175%, and 25% in demand in the last month. In addition, this year there has been a growth in the holiday rental market compared to the same period last year, as well as an increase in advertisements published on this platform, as this study states that from May 2020 to May 2020 advertisements they have increased by 79%, and demand by 48%.
Another study, this time by Rentalia, based on the volume of reservations made, observes a small increase, since the occupancy during the month of August 2021 will be 77.7%, compared to 77.3% last year.
The so-called “summer of recovery” is already here, and despite the fact that the indicators have dropped some points with respect to the first forecasts, the truth is that in the holiday rental market the results are not negative: the occupancy of homes tourist rental rates already exceed last year's levels.