The future of the hotel sector in Spain
At Keyplan we have been offering our clients building services and facilities in housing estates, homes, offices, hotels … etc. for years. In fact, last year we installed a trigeneration plant in a large hotel complex in the Dominican Republic to distribute heat, cold and electricity to 1,200 rooms and their services.
Precisely the hotel sector has been, without a doubt, the sector hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis, whose future, one month after returning to the “new normal”, continues to be plagued with uncertainty.
Tourism in spain
We must not forget that Spain is a country highly dependent on tourism and that according to reports from Hosteltur, it is the sector that contributes the most wealth to the Spanish economy based on 2019 data:
- Revenue reached 70,000 million euros.
- It represents 12.2% of the national GDP.
- 83.74 million foreign tourists visited Spain.
- Generates 2.8 million national jobs.
Nº of international tourists in Spain
Source: Turespaña
Current context
We must bear in mind that the data presented above is an average of the entire country. Based on studies published at the beginning of the year by Hosteltur, the cities most visited by international tourists are Madrid, Barcelona and, in general, the coastal cities bathed by the Mediterranean Sea.
Currently, each autonomous community is in a different phase from de-escalation, and although the “new normal” is expected to arrive at the end of June, there are no guarantees that it will be the same throughout Spain. Therefore, the first factor to take into account is that each autonomous community will recover at a different speed than the other.
Hoteliers agree that the future of the sector involves betting on new technology, redefining spaces and the business model and adapting to new customer demands. Furthermore, as some experts point out, the future of the tourism sector (like the rest) will depend on when there is an effective vaccine or treatment.
We must not forget that, previously, the client based his decision on three criteria: price, reputation and location. At present, what they are looking for are safe and undercrowded destinations. In this sense, the countries that have had the fewest cases of contagion, such as Greece and Portugal, are the ones that tourists trust the most when planning their vacations.
To guarantee this security, the hoteliers plan to reduce the capacity, demand the reservation request, control the common areas of the resort as much as possible and carry out daily tests on the clients as soon as they arrive at the premises. Likewise, cleaning regulations will be stricter and technological solutions will be sought with the aim of reducing interaction between employees and customers.
Conclusion
We must not forget that this crisis reaches everyone, both the large hotel empires and the smallest, although the reality is that the investments that large chains can make are not comparable, for example, with those that small hotels will be able to do. rural.
Today, the word that hoteliers repeat the most is uncertainty. After all, in addition to the problems they have to face within their premises, it is necessary to add the restrictions on travel, especially air activity, which is practically paralyzed. This is especially worrying for the Mediterranean islands that in summer are a fishing ground for tourists from all over Spain.
Currently, many hotels have not dared to open, and those that have, are not 100% sure that it will be profitable due to the reduced capacity and the expenses they must face to implement the imposed security measures. Although there are some who give up the season, it will be necessary to see with the passing of the weeks what solutions the businessmen propose and what will be the measures that the Government will finally impose once we return to the “new normality”.
