Laurence Dollimore
MARBELLA just recorded its busiest June ever in terms of hotel occupancy rates.
The jewel of the Costa del Sol saw an average occupancy rate of 79.12% last month, a 2.62% year-on-year increase.
And this year it’s not the foreign market propping up the industry.
The number of rooms being booked by Spanish tourists in the seaside town enjoyed a 15.63% year-on-year boost.
Meanwhile, foreign demand has fallen.
“The increase in average occupancy rates despite the fall in the foreign market is due not only to the increase in our country’s domestic tourism, but also the fact that the average period of stay is increasing compared to recent years,” said the town’s general director of Tourism Laura de Arce.
De Arce revealed how the first six months of 2019 showed some data very similar to last year, ‘but the trend has been reversed’.
She explained: “While in recent years the foreign tourist was growing and the national was decreasing, the opposite phenomenon is currently occurring.”
From January to June 2018 a total of 75,403 visitors were registered in the Marbella, compared to 92,657 during the first six months of 2019 – a 23% increase.
She added: “The decline in foreign tourists is concentrated in issuing markets such as the British, German and French and, among the issues that can generate this trend, we can find Brexit, which has led to the British pound to be devalued, which causes British citizens finding it more expensive to travel.
“There has also been a slight economic slowdown in other EU countries like Germany. “
The average price for a night’s stay in June was €160.13.
The average profit per room stood at €128.42.
Average occupancy rates for the summer are expected to surpass 90%.
