The tourism of Spain suffers from anxiety of cancellations by international tourists

Friday, July 9, 2021

Here we have something interesting to share in regard to the rapidly changing scenario of Europe’s international tourism this summer:

The tourism sector of Spain is watching apprehensively as coronavirus cases increase once again across the country, creating mass fear of summer cancellations among international visitors.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times ran an article with the headline “Delta variant drives Spain’s Covid-19 rate to highest in mainland Europe. Some regional governments have reintroduced additional restrictions as others are toying with the ideas.

To quote José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, an industry group representing 33 major travel companies, “It’s dramatic, it’s the worse thing that could happen to us. The image that’s being projected is of great concern. It seems only a matter of time before a return to restrictive measures.” On Thursday morning, Clément Beaune, France’s secretary of state for European affairs, made the following recommendation to French nationals on the television network France 2: “To those of you who have not yet booked your vacations, avoid Spain and Portugal as destinations.”

Also, expectations differ by regions. In Catalonia, uncontrolled coronavirus transmission has reduced the summer plans of the tourism industry. “We need to convey positive messages to the outside world,” said Santiago García-Nieto, president of the Confederation of Hospitality Businesses and Restaurateurs of Catalonia (ConfeCat). By now, industry leaders have found that July is not going to be as good as they had thought of, and are now focusing on saving August and September.

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