Fewer Tourists on Spanish Islands; Hotels Compensate with Higher Prices

The Canary Islands and Ibiza are facing a significant drop in tourist demand for hotel stays this summer, according to Spanish tourism industry portal Preferente. This decline is impacting booking levels during the peak season.

In the Canary Islands, the second quarter saw 164,000 fewer tourists, marking the seventh consecutive year of declining visitor numbers. This weaker demand was evident even before the summer season began. Hotel occupancy rates in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for July and August were at 64.6%, nearly 5 percentage points lower than the previous year. Tenerife specifically saw a rate of 65.8%, also down 5 points, while La Palma's occupancy fell to 56.3%.

Despite fewer travelers, hotel stays in the Canary Islands only decreased by 0.1% in June, reaching 5.66 million. Simultaneously, prices rose by 4.2%, and profitability increased by 4.6%. Spending by foreign tourists is also growing at a faster pace than the number of visitors.

Ibiza presents a different scenario, with stable demand but a noticeable slowdown in booking growth. The hotel sector does not anticipate significant improvement in August compared to last year, with a prevalence of last-minute bookings. Stays are becoming shorter, and clients are more selective about accommodation due to high prices on the island.

The booking dynamics on Ibiza are more apparent when viewed against the backdrop of the Balearic Islands as a whole. During the eclipse period, hotel bookings across the archipelago increased by 19.1% year-on-year, and for the entire month of August, the growth was 13.3%. While Ibiza also benefited from this increase, demand patterns during the season were more uneven. The island shows a distinction between its appeal as a daytime leisure destination and its popularity for nightlife. In mid-August, beaches in some areas reported low attendance, with daytime photos showing fewer tourists in select locations.