Skift Take
City breaks aren’t as popular (yet) as beach getaways, however the hotelier still has some way to go to turn a profit after Omicron’s effect previously in the year.
Matthew Parsons
Spain’s Melia Hotels stated on Wednesday its occupancy rates and earnings should recover to pre-pandemic levels in its resort hotels this year, amid a strong rebound in tourist after the lifting of many Covid-19 restrictions in Europe and America.
The Mallorca-based group expects to have much better sales in 2022 than in 2019 in its resort hotels, assisted by holidaymakers’ demand for roomier accommodation that enhances the average rate of a stay. On the other hand its city locations are anticipated to generate 13 percent less than prior to the pandemic.
“In all sales channels we are above 2019 (at the moment …) but the advancement is more positive in vacation hotels,” the Melia’s CEO Gabriel Escarrer told a press conference.
“Spain is among the locations that benefits most, as clients perceive that it is a safe haven,” Escarrer stated, keeping in mind that the country is far away from the Ukraine dispute.
The hotel chain group reported last week that its first-quarter profits more than tripled to $287 million from a year ago, but still published a loss of $62.15 million, generally due to the effect of cancellations triggered by the Omicron variant earlier in the year.
Reservations have grown by double digits week-on-week since mid-February and the Easter vacation marked the method for a better rebound, the company informed Reuters.
The company tape-recorded an international rate boost of 18 percent in its room tariffs throughout the Easter week.
The impact of the conflict in Ukraine has not highly impacted the movement of visitors and, according to the business, will not eclipse the anticipated recovery from the pandemic.
Last month, traveler arrivals in Spain were at 86 percent of 2019 levels, while its islands popular with holidaymakers hosted the same number of tourists as they did before the pandemic, thanks to the return of travellers from crucial markets Britain and Germany, the federal government stated on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Corina Pons in Madrid; editing by Belén Carreño and Philippa Fletcher)
This short article was composed by Corina Pons from Reuters and was lawfully accredited through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing concerns to [e-mail secured]