Dylan Wagemans
AN all-time high of 94 million travellers have visited Spain in 2024, but with a growth of around 5.7% in the first quarter of this year, the country is expected to reach the 100 million tourist-mark this year.
With the uncontrollable growth of tourism on the Iberian peninsula, prices are also growing out of control.
Spanish newspaper El Pais has published an article in which online travel agency Destinia compared the rates charged by hotels in eight different locations in Spain.
They used the same metrics for every hotel, and found that prices are almost the same if you were to travel to Riviera Maya in Mexico, or Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
This price equalisation is partly caused by airline tickets getting more expensive, since EU regulations require planes to use 2% sustainable fuel since January this year.
Airlines have calculated that this incentive to meet the energy transition objectives will mean an extra cost of €235 million, most of which will have to be paid by the traveller of course.
This is part of why destinations that are only ~2,000km away, will see their prices equal to destinations ~8,000km away.
Another explanation for the rise in prices is the demand-factor.
Certain destinations are gaining in popularity, which allows them to impose historically high rates.
“Many travellers are delaying the decision to book or shortening stays to control spending, as we saw in the summer of 2023,” said Ricardo Fernandez, CEO of Destinia.
