The organisation published a report yesterday in which the world economy could lose more than 4 trillion dollars between this year and last due to the impact of the pandemic on tourism, warning that losses in 2021 would be in a range between 1.9% and 2.7% of world GDP. For Spain, this range would be between 1.3% and 2.4% of GDP.

Javier Ibáñez de Aldecoa Fuster (CaixaBank Research) | 2020 has now been left behind; a year that will be remembered in the tourism industry as the toughest in recent history. In 2021, the fight against the pandemic continues and restrictions on movement and trade are still preventing normal economic activity, hitting tourism-dependent businesses particularly hard. However, the roll-out of the vaccines will provide a turning point once immunity is achieved among the population most at risk. Our projections point to a strong recovery in the sector during the second half of the year, resulting in tourism GDP growing by 80% annually, once again becoming one of the driving forces for the Spanish economy.

The main Spanish hotel companies are concerned about the limited number of bookings for Easter, although they are confident that demand will be reactivated if the vaccination process is accelerated, which would make it possible to have a summer season at least better than that of 2020. With the hopes of reaching a certain level of normality in the second half of 2021- yesterday the “irreversible” UK de-escalation process plan boost tourism stocks- Spain continues to lead the ranking of preferred destinations for travel. 

Spain is above the global average in its ability to attract long-stay tourism (i.e., more than a week). This type of tourist accounts for half of the national offer, with long-stay trips considered “more satisfactory” than short-stay trips. This is reflected in the ‘Study on the positioning of Spain as a tourist destination’ recently presented by the Real Instituto Elcano and Turespaña.