Alex Trelinski
AUGUST overnight stays in Costa Blanca hotels collapsed by almost two-thirds compared to 2019, as Denia defied a poor month for bookings.
Figures from the Hosbec hotel association said that coronavirus restrictions led to a 61.8 per cent drop in hotel stays during what is normally the busiest month of the year.
Denia however did especially well in August with an occupancy figure of just over 73 per cent to make it the sixth busiest area in Spain, percentage-wise, for bookings.
In contrast, Benidorm suffered badly as it lost 73.5 per cent of its overnight stays with the average income generated by each hotel room dropping by half.
Regional tourism was largely propped up by domestic visitors who accounted for 81 per cent of stays in August, as foreign travellers stayed at home.
That was a key factor in why Denia’s numbers were good as it is a popular spot for tourists from areas like Madrid and the Basque Country.
Hosbec said that the hotel occupancy figure for the Costa Blanca was 57.7 per cent with the length of stays averaging out at three days.
September’s figures are expected to be even worse in the region with average occupancy estimates of just 30 per cent.
