Tourism experts reveal a ‘pick-up’ in holidaymaker bookings in Benidorm on Spain’s Costa Blanca from August

Tourism experts have revealed a ‘change for the better’ in Benidorm hotel bookings in August, and a ‘pick-up’ for September.

IN its weekly update, tourism consultant firm, Mirai, which deals with direct online bookings, said the data from August is “more encouraging.”

Experts and businesses have written off June and July “at least for the moment” but data shows a “noticeable pick-up” in August, gathering pace in September.

The tourism consultant warned however, “cancellations of reservations are the order of the day” at the moment, and “hiring is still an unattainable dream.”

Reservation cancellations apparently slowed down in the week April 6 to 12, but this is because “many had cancelled before.”

But there are signs which point to a path of recovery for the sector with a “slight increase” in reservations from August, “especially from national tourists.”

Experts attribute this to various promotions aimed at attracting Spanish visitors, a tactic adopted in China where the first trips are being made within the country itself.

Mirai states: “June and July continue to be cancelled at a high rate, but from August onwards the trend changes for the better. From August to the end of the year, bookings are up and cancellations are down compared to last week.

“The main contributor to this change of trend is the Spanish market, although the German market also rebooked from August.”

The graph above shows hotel booking cancellations in red, and room bookings in blue.

There’s a high number of cancellations for June and July, the first being the most affected, where for every 100 reservations, 421 are cancelled.

In August, bookings begin to rise, but it’s in September when there is “a certain normality,” with “percentages more similar to those in previous years without any type of global problems like the current one,” claims Mirai.

A similar pattern seemingly appears to be forming in the Valencia Community, the tourism consultant added.