Balearic tourist sector predicted to be worst hit in Spain by coronavirus crisis

THE whole of Spain’s tourism sector is taking an absolute hammering from the coronavirus crisis, but the Balearic Islands will be particularly hard hit, according to a new report.

The Exceltur Alliance for Tourism excellence predicts the sector will lose a massive €6 billion this year.

Exceltur puts the decrease in the regional sector’s turnover at 40.8 per cent in relation to 2019.

The other particularly badly affected regions will be Andalucia (-32.5 per cent), the Canary Islands (25.9 per cent), Cataluña (-34.per cent), the Valencian Community (-33.6 per cent) and Madrid (-27.9 per cent).

The analysis quantifies the negative impact of Covid-19 as four months of enforced confinement due to the virus and the slow recovery of foreign demand.

The Spanish lobby group said its forecast was in line with the scenarios set out by international organisms.

The thinking is that once the crisis is over there will be a period of three or four weeks when the public start to make decisions about travelling once again. There is expected to be a faster recovery where people travel within Spain and in their own vehicles.

Exceltur underlines that fact that Spanish tourist companies’ sales have fallen to ‘practically zero,’ with ‘minimum visibility’ in respect to recovery in the coming months, something never seen before.

The group stresses that Spain’s tourism sector is ‘working tirelessly’ to ensure the survival of businesses, as well to offer facilities for putting up health and logistical personnel.

The Exceltur report was based on a sample of 2,400 businesses from tourism sub-sectors across Spain.