Tag: Cehat

Hotel Activity in Spain Slows Down in July

25 August 2018

Overnight stays in Spain fell by more than 2% last month. The recovery of the tourist sector in other countries looks set to prevent the industry from reaching a new annual record.

Executives and experts from the tourism sector predicted that the passenger and occupancy records set in 2017 are unlikely to be repeated, at least for the hotel sector. Overnight stays in hotels fell by 2.2% in July compared to the year before, reaching 42.6 million stays, according to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

There was a noted reduction in both stays by Spanish tourists and those of foreigners, decreasing by 1.1% and 2.7%, respectively, in this high-summer month. On the other hand, hotels in Spain charged an average of 101 euros per occupied room, an annual increase of 3.1%, according to the same source. At the end of the season, despite the fall in overnight stays, Spain’s hotels are expected to have revenues that are broadly similar to those of the year before.

The president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (Cehat), Joan Molas, stated that the decrease had been expected and had already been noted in the previous months. This is partly because many competing tourist destinations have started recovering, leading them to attract many of the same customers who tend to visit Spain: tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany.

Josep Francesc Valls, a professor, specialising in tourism at Esade, does not believe that the figure for July is necessarily negative. “It was expected because the tourist activity in Spain had been growing due to endogenous causes that would be reversed at some point, and that is what is happening now.” The important thing, according to Valls, is the average cost, which is continuing its upward trajectory.

The two main markets, the United Kingdom and Germany, which jointly account for almost half of demand, saw overnight stays fall by 2.5% and 11.4%, respectively. During the first seven months of the year, the total number of overnight stays went down by 0.7% compared to the same period last year. In July, hotel occupancy also fell, reaching 71.1% of the total availability, a fall of 2.4% in relation to the same month of 2017.

Baleares, the Chosen Destination

The Baleares had the highest occupancy rate in July, at 89.5%; followed by the Canary Islands (80.7%) and Valencia (74%). Baleares was also the main destination for non-resident travellers in Spain, with 35% of the total number of overnight stays, increasing by 1.1% in comparison to July 2017.

Catalonia followed with 20.7% of the total, though overnight stays by foreigners fell by 6.2%. The most significant drop occurred in the province of Tarragona where the total number of travellers fell by 12% along with overnight stays. The biggest drop was by foreign travellers, down 17% compared to July 2017. Despite this, Molas stressed that with the available data on reservations for September point to a hotel occupancy similar to that of last year, with a clear recovery in the British, German, Belgian and Dutch markets.

The decrease in travellers and overnight stays in hotels in July contrasts with the record number of passengers registered in the same period in several airports. For the hotel manager, Joan Molas, this discrepancy confirms an increase in the use of illegal tourist flats.

Original Story: El Periódico de Aragón – Salvador Sabriá

Translation: Richard Turner

 

CaixaBank to Lend €3bn to Hotel Sector

15 March 2018 – Expansión

CaixaBank has declared the hotel sector strategic for increasing its credit investment. Through its new line of business CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism, the entity has just signed an agreement with the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (Cehat) to make available a specific financing line of €3 billion to its 13,000 establishments over two years.

The bank led by Gonzalo Gortázar closed 2017 having granted €1.5 billion in loans to the hotel sector, where it has a portfolio of 14,000 clients – two out of every three hotels in Spain – and €5 billion in terms of business volume. With the launch of the new division, CaixaBank expects to grow its loans to this segment by 20% during the first year.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Irea: Hotel Inv’t In H1 2017 Amounted To €1,655M

10 July 2017 – Reuters

Attracted by encouraging forecasts in the hotel sector, domestic and international investors alike purchased 79 hotels in Spain during the first six months of 20176, for a combined amount of €1,655 million, according to a report presented on Friday by the consultancy firm Irea.

The consultancy said that the figure for the first half of this year exceeds the volume recorded during the same period a year earlier by more than double and “should allow the sector to break the historical record for investment reached in 2015, when more than €2,600 million was spent”.

The strong interest in the hotel segment is being driven by a significant increase in hotel rates and sustained demand from tourists.

Spain received almost 28 million international tourists during the first five months of 2017, which represents an 11.6% increase compared to the first five months of last year, when foreign visitor numbers exceeded historical records for the second year in a row.

Spain received a record 75.5 million tourist visits in 2016 and Cehat forecasts that this year the figure will exceed the threshold of 80 million visitors.

According to Irea, investment in the hotel sector was split almost equally between the holiday segment (52%) and the urban segment (48%).

Two deals stood out in the urban sector during H1: the purchase of 55% of the Hilton Diagonal (4* – 433 rooms) by Axa Investment Managers and the acquisition of Hotel Silken Diagonal (4* – 240 rooms) by Benson Elliot and Highgate, both of which were closed for prices of more than €300,000 per room, said Irea.

Meanwhile, in the holiday segment, the star buy was London & Regional’s purchase of a portfolio of 4 hotels containing 2,050 rooms in total from Starwood and Melià, for an estimated amount of €240 million.

According to data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, there are 15,855 hotels in Spain, with a total of 822,002 rooms.

Of the 31.5 million overnight stays recorded in May (the latest figures available), 71.3% corresponded to foreign guests and the remaining 28.7% related to domestic customers.

The expectations of another record summer have boost hotel rates in recent months. According to the latest report from Trivago, hotel prices in Spain rose by 14% YoY on average in June to reach €134 per night.

Original story: Reuters

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Overnight Hotel Stays Rose By 7.4% YoY In July

24 August 2016 – Expansión

The Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Valencia recorded the highest occupancy rates during the month. There was no “Brexit effect”: the British market grew by 15%. The sector believes that it has recorded from the losses of the crisis.

The tourism sector has moved full steam ahead during the first half of the year and, above all, so far this summer. In July, there were 42.8 million overnight hotel stays (28.1 million foreigners and 14.6 million Spaniards), up by 7.4% compared with the same month in 2015, when the figure had risen by 6% YoY. There are two main drivers of this acceleration: overseas tourists, whose stays increased by 8.2%, and Spain’s own residents, whose stays rose by 5.7% in July compared with last year, according to data published yesterday by INE. Sources in the sector consider that the problems of the crisis, above all in terms of the domestic market, are now behind us.

The autonomous regions with the highest occupancy rates during the seventh month of the year were the Balearic Islands (91%), the Canary Islands (84.9%), Valencia (77.9%) and Cataluña (75.8%). The most successful area in terms of the number of beds occupied was the island of Mallorca, with a 92.1% occupancy rate and Palma-Calvià, which achieved a higher occupancy rate on the weekends (90.9%). In terms of total overnight stays, the most popular area was the Costa del Sol, with more than 2.3 million overnight stays during the month.

And not only did the number of overnight stays rise, hotel prices also increased in July: by 7.5% compared with a year ago, which represents an increase of 1.5 points over the rate obtained then (6%). Again, the autonomous regions that contributed the most to this increase were the Balearic Islands (with a YoY increase of 10%), Andalucía (8.9%), the Canary Islands (8%) and Cataluña (5%).

In addition, the average revenue per room occupied stood at €93.20, up by 6.3% YoY. By hotel category, the average income was €208.40 for five-star properties; €102.40 for four-star hotels and €79.40 for three-star establishments (…).

In addition to the economic recovery, which has relaunched domestic demand after it was significantly depressed during the crisis, one reason that explains the strong tourism figures in Spain is the difficulties that competing countries are facing, such as Turkey, whose tourist market is experiencing decreases of 30% following the terrorist attacks in recent months, and Egypt, with a decline of almost 70%, following five years of political and social instability since the outbreak of the Arab spring (…).

For the time being, the figures do not reflect any negative effect from Brexit in terms of the arrival of British visitors. Quite the opposite: in July, Brits recorded 1.28 million overnight stays in Spain, up by 15% compared with the same month in 2015. “So far in 2016, the British market has grown by 20%”, said Juan Molas, Chairman of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), who revealed that reservations made by tour operators for the winter season (November-April) already reflect an increase of 16% compared with the same period last year.

Despite the general recovery in terms of overnight hotel stays, sector representatives are still warning about the increase in the use of unregulated establishments through platforms such as Airbnb, Homeaway and Niumba, amongst others. “The use of these services unbalances the tourist model”, said Inmaculada Benito, Chairwoman of the Hotel Business Federation in Mallorca. A war has been declared on these types of businesses in cities such as Barcelona.

Original story: Expansión (by Yago González)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spanish Hoteliers See No ST Threat From Brexit

3 August 2016 – Hotel News Now

Spanish hoteliers said they have yet to see any immediate negative impact on tourism from the U.K. since that country voted to leave the European Union.

“Spain has long been, and should remain for the foreseeable future, the favored vacation destination for British visitors despite Brexit, and all indications are that bookings well into next year are still healthy,” said Juan Molas, President of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT), during a 28 July news conference.

The U.K. is Spain’s largest source market for foreign visitors. Last year, 68 million foreign visitors traveled to Spain, which was an increase of 5% over the previous year. Approximately 16 million Britons accounted for 21% of those visitors.

Following the victory for the “leave” vote in the 23 June Brexit referendum and the resulting drop in the value of the pound against the euro, there was concern in the Spanish hotel sector that the subsequent higher prices would keep Britons away.

But hoteliers noted that British travelers traditionally reserve their holidays months in advance, so there appears to be no immediate negative impact on peak business this summer.

Molas said that momentum should extend into the 2016-2017 winter season and next summer. He added that Spain’s tour operators and travel agencies that sell package vacations—which are used by 70% of British tourists when booking their Spanish holidays—have noticed steady booking trends well into 2017.

“Spain continues to be the most popular vacation spot for the British, who don’t tend to travel for leisure to some of our competitors like Egypt or Turkey, which are more popular among the Germans and French,” he said. “Spanish hotels and destinations offer the British what they want on a holiday: safety and good value for money. We’ve seen the pound-euro exchange rate fluctuate often in the past, and there was no lasting major effect on us.”

But Molas cautioned the weaker pound could curtail daily spending by British visitors in Spain and London will now be a cheaper alternative for event booking than Spanish cities.

“London is our biggest competitor in Europe for the convention trade, and Paris, where hotel prices have fallen because of the recent unfortunate events in France, is also a rival,” he said. “But our biggest competitor in all of this would be for the British to decide not to travel and just stay home.”

Long-term effects of Brexit are still unknown, said CEHAT Secretary General Ramón Estalella.

“We don’t have a crystal ball to see into the future, but there are three important unknowns to consider,” he said. “One is when Britain will finally leave the EU and what further effects that might have. Two, no one knows where the pound will be in value (in) six months or there could be a crisis in Europe dragging down the value of the euro and so making the pound stronger. And three, what might happen in our competitor countries that could affect the British source market.”

The CEHAT executives also presented the findings of a survey of its members—which include 54 local and regional hotel associations and 1.5 million beds—on the sector’s performance through the end of the summer. A majority of the respondents are looking forward to a positive high season thanks largely to a rise in room rates and longer average stays by guests, which will result in higher profits.

Molas said hoteliers are confident that the continuing demand from both Spanish and foreign guests will increase.

“What’s important now is to use the occupancy rates to maximize earnings and promote Spain through advertising and marketing so we can cement its position as one of the leading tourism destinations in the world,” Molas said.

Original story: Hotel News Now (by Benjamin Jones)

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Hotel Revenues Soar Thanks To Tourism Boom

17 May 2016 – Expansión

Spain’s large hotel groups are preparing for another record year after figures for the start of 2016 have confirmed that the tourism boom is continuing across the peninsula. The volume of international tourists grew by 4.4% between January and April, to 16 million, which together with the successful Easter period and the continuation of the recovery in domestic demand, means that experts are forecasting a better summer season than in 2015 and another record year.

Last year, Spain received 68.1 million international tourists, up by 4.9%, which boosted the business of the main Spanish hotel chains. Barceló, RIU, Melià and Iberostar took advantage of the situation, favoured by instability in rival countries such as Turkey and Egypt, and closed 2015 with double-digit revenue growth. In 2016, profitability will continue to rise thanks to the continuation of the favourable environment and the fact that the chains are accelerating their entry into new markets, as well as remodelling their hotels.

Iberostar’s revenues soared by 29% to €1,847 million and it was the hotel chain that improved the most. The company owned by the Fluxá family will open six new properties in 2016 and will spend €90 million renovating its hotels.

Meliá’s turnover grew by 16.3% to €1,738 million, whilst Barceló generated revenues of €2,480 million in 2015, representing growth of 20.6%, and a net profit of €100.2 million, up by 116%. It was the most profitable Spanish hotel chain. This year the group expects to see improvements across all of the regions in which it operates. Specifically, its objective for 2016 includes generating EBITDA of around €326 million and a net profit of €125 million.

In the case of RIU, its revenues grew by 14% to €1,848 million. The company has announced its intention to invest €390 million in 2016 with the opening of four hotels and the complete refurbishment of another eight.

Meanwhile, last year Palladium recorded revenues of more than €500 million for the first time in its history, up by 20% compared with 2014. The chain owned by the former minister Abel Matutes plans to create 1,300 jobs in Spain and 300 in America. The group is undergoing an expansion process in Latin America, which includes opening new hotels in Jamaica and Mexico, with a committed investment of between €800 million and €900 million over five years.

According to the Chairman of Cehat, Juan Molas, who confirmed the current trend, 2016 is going to be a “very good year”, thanks to traditional markets, such as the UK, German and French and the recovery of the Russian Market, which had declined somewhat in recent years. In addition, new routes to Asian countries may boost alternative tourism besides the traditional sun and beach segment.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ceav, Rafael Gallego, said that some destinations, such as the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and Levante, are already close to overbooking. Instability in countries that compete with Spain, such as Turkey, is contributing to this record; as is the parity of the dollar with the euro, which makes Caribbean destinations less attractive; and the price of oil.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake