For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Spain’s two largest cities, Barcelona and Madrid, have generated more hotel bookings than during the same period two years ago, reaching 111.68% and 102.03% of 2019 figures respectively, as of 24 October 2021, SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index reveals.
These figures show the strength of Spanish destinations, beyond the coastal cities of sun and beach tourism, where travellers have already flocked this past summer. The good figures coincide in time with the reopening of urban activities throughout the country, such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theatres, museums and art galleries, as well as with the massive attendance of the public at sporting events, trade fairs and congresses.
The boost in hotel bookings in both Barcelona and Madrid is higher than in other iconic European cities such as Paris (93.4% compared to 2019 figures), London (91.86%), Berlin (74.28%) and Amsterdam (81.37%).
These positive figures are a further indicator that Spain is in the fifth and final phase of the ‘hotel bookings restart’, a process identified by SiteMinder through which a country’s hotel bookings return to normal after Covid-19. Spain has been one of the main drivers of travel recovery across Europe this year, having comfortably surpassed 2019 hotel booking figures throughout the summer.
It now stands at 111.03%, compared to the global average of 80.88%. International guests have also returned strongly to our country, outnumbering domestic guests last month for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
