FIRST half of August hotel stays are back to 2019 pre-pandemic levels in Benidorm and the Costa Blanca with an average occupancy figure of 92.5%.

Benidorm numbers from the HOSBEC hoteliers association reported 92% occupancy in the first two weeks of August, compared to 92.1% during the same period in 2019.

The Costa Blanca(excluding Benidorm) clocked in at 93.1%, up on three years ago.

50.8% of Benidorm hotel stays came from international visitors, with British tourists accounting for 27.2% of that total, followed by Portuguese arrivals at 7.5%.

In the rest of the Costa Blanca, domestic tourism accounts for 71.8% of hotel bookings.

British visitors again lead the foreign market followed by French and Belgian holidaymakers.

Economic concerns don’t seem to have put tourists off after two years of Covid travel restrictions.

HOSBEC president, Toni Mayor, said: “Tourism is not afraid of inflation, demonstrating its extraordinary capacity for resilience.”

“Not even during the most expensive period of the holiday season, has it been held back by the bad economic news that we read and hear about every day,” Mayor added.

Occupancy rates are expected to reach at least 86% for the remainder of August.

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