Easter 2022, we have to go to the town: "We have reservations for a year"

Finding peace to the chirping of birds while the dew still gives the lawn that 'green' smell is trading up.

figures

for this Easter 2022 have exceeded expectations, according to industry sources.

Fleeing the city has become a mantra for many Spaniards when it comes to closing their luggage these days.

The most optimistic estimates offer figures that exceed the data for 2019, the last year in which this holiday could be enjoyed without a pandemic in between.

La Rioja,

and

are four of the autonomous communities that have the most reserves in forecasts for these days.

An occupation that has skyrocketed since Wednesday and will continue until this Sunday the majority of Spaniards return to their places of origin.

On the hunt for red

Since the Government decreed the end of perimeter closures in May last year, rural houses in Rioja have hung the

in almost all holiday seasons.

Not only is there a greater influx of tourists, but there is also a change in terms of the longevity of the stays.

Visitors spend the night more and have begun to conceive of La Rioja as a holiday destination to go to for more than a weekend.

The demand for this Holy Week does not escape this growing interest either and reserves are around 90%.

The profile of the tourist who stays in these rural houses located on the edge of the vineyards maintains a direct link with another type of tourism, that of experience.

Of the wide range of activities that La Rioja has, undoubtedly wine tourism stands out.

In 2021 alone, this modality reaped a total amount of

, bringing together half a million customers.

Despite the fact that the wineries are still far from the more than 800,000 visitors they received in 2019 -36% of them of foreign origin- the industry is confident that they will return to normality as soon as possible and reach the figure of 1.2 million for the 2025.

For Ramiro Gil, general director of tourism in La Rioja, the existence of these synergies allows the creation of "a much more attractive product" for tourists while the sector greatly "increases" its added value.

"Customers are looking for excellent gastronomic experiences and there is a very important offer in the wineries. We are leaders per capita in Spain in Michelin stars. All these services that we offer are complemented by the excellent products of our orchard and livestock, creating a much more attractive experience. ", he asserts.

"Everything is complete"

"Look, here in the association we have a WhatsApp group to make bounces. That is, if a member is busy we try to pass the reservation to another who has availability. We have been with the bounces for more than 15 days and no associate can attend to them because They're all complete."

On the other side of the line we are attended by

, president of the

who does not hide his enthusiasm before a Holy Week in which, according to figures from the Junta de Castilla y León, there could be more than 68,000 overnight stays by rural tourists throughout the community.

Flecha assures that the occupancy percentages in the province of León, the region in which they are installed, is "around 95% and very close to 100%", figures that exceed the sector's forecasts.

The president of Aletur agrees that since the start of the pandemic he has seen "a significant increase" in demand in this type of establishment, he admits that he cannot accurately estimate the economic impact of this "boom".

Despite this, he considers the numbers "are returning to 2019 levels."

According to industry sources to EL MUNDO, the tourist profile that Castilla y León will receive these days will not stay only in the place where they spend the night, since they also show

such as processions in nearby places.

From this Wednesday to Sunday, the busiest days are expected both in the most attractive tourist places and in rural accommodation.

The Extremadura meadow

"Extremadura is a garden, it is spectacular. The dehesa, the cherry blossom, the rockrose, the cultural spaces, it is fashionable and a trend".

To

, general director of tourism of

, the figures prove him right.

9 out of 10 rural houses are complete this Easter.

The search for serenity, calm, natural and gastronomic resources, has placed Extremadura as one of the main attractions within rural tourism in our country.

30% of the total area of ​​the community runs some type of environmental protection, it also has one of the most important natural spaces for birds in all of Europe.

From Thursday to Sunday it is expected that the occupation reaches levels close to 100% and that this situation allows the hotel industry to face this Easter without problems.

"There will be an excellent billing around the typical gastronomy," Simón underlines.

"We have not raised prices"

Even in the most unlikely of places in Spain, the war in Ukraine has wreaked havoc on the economy.

The rise in the price of energy has put a large part of rural tourism in check, which on many occasions works with the most adjusted prices possible in order to offer a competitive product.

In this dilemma, about transferring this increase to the customer's pocket, were the hoteliers of the Aragonese countryside.

The solution, just as blunt as it is appreciated by tourists, has been not to touch the prices.

"Rural tourism has not raised prices, we were considering it above all for heating issues," says

, president of the

.

Perhaps this is the reason why Aragonese rural houses are practically at 100%, although its president prefers to define the situation in other terms.

"We're close to 100% but I don't like to say it, there's always somewhere there's a room available, so I'd rather tell you it's 95%."

For Marco and all of Faratur's associates, the

has been one of the key points that they have wanted to implement for some time now.

That is why the two majority associations in Aragon implemented security courses against the pandemic, achieving more than 80% acceptance of the measure in the sector.

"Together with the Institute of Tourist Quality of Spain, we carried out a system of ninety-odd items that when the establishments passed them, they were granted the title of insurance. It gave the clients the feeling of having a lot of security and a great amount of visitors came to our spaces thanks to this measure".

The maximum leader of Faratur assures that in the area of ​​Bajo Aragón and the Ruta del Tambor the reservations have marked "spectacular" levels with some of them made "for a year".

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• The Rioja

• Estremadura

• Lion

• Aragon

• Ukraine

• Europe

• Castile and Leon

• Tourism