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Spain's greatest strength for years, being the second world tourist destination (behind France), has become our greatest weakness for a few weeks . "Beyond the immediate impact [due to the coronavirus crisis], dependence on tourism in Spain is a special vulnerability," said this week Poul Thomsen , head of the European division of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A few statements that put the icing on the cake of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, days before. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Von der Leyen recommended not to make reservations or plan summer vacations. He argued that "no one can make reliable forecasts for July and August at this time."
With an international scenario where many borders will be kept closed and the restriction of movements will be imposed in the coming months, the sector estimates that 36 million international tourists could reach Spain , 56% less than in 2019 and a figure comparable to that of 1978 . If the same reduction is applied to the expense of foreign tourism (which was 92,337 million euros in 2019), this season's income from international tourism would be 40,628 million euros. Translated: losses of up to 51,708 million euros.
These are some of the conclusions of the report In search of scenarios and recipes for a new era in tourism by the DNA Tourism and Leisure consultancy , carried out from a survey of more than 600 agents from the national tourism fabric to analyze the impact of the Covid-19 in our tourism industry.
SOLIDARITY GESTURES IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY
The tourism sector is one of the most affected by the crisis but also one of the most supportive. The businessman Kike Sarasola began by giving up several of his Room Mate hotels in Madrid to the toilets who needed to spend the night away from home, and soon the example spread among the establishments of the Palladium group , the NH hotel chain , the Iberostar group , Catalonia Hotels & Resorts, Castilla Thermal, all Accor divisions ... The list of hotels that have given up their rooms and donated thousands of hygiene items, bedding and food to hospitals throughout Spain is endless.
Iberia was not far behind and in addition to participating in the sanitary air corridor, it has donated material such as blankets and pillows to field hospitals. Renfe has offered free train tickets for restrooms in addition to adapting various talgos such as hospitals for the transfer of patients by Covid-19, as well as the Alsa bus company , which has made its vehicles available to the UME for this same purpose. .
Luggage prepared in August
But they all seem to agree that we will travel again: the latest report by the consultancy Deloitte on the economic impact on the different sectors speaks of the recovery of national tourism in August and of international tourism by December 2020.
In this sense, many maintain that the activities and experiences that will recover the fastest are those of rural tourism and the outdoors , where the feeling of solitude, security, contact with nature and non-overcrowding will prevail. "There are two sure effects after the pandemic: the reality of lower purchasing power and the fear of being in environments where Covid-19 may still be a risk factor. This will condition the number of trips, as well as destinations, generating greater tendency to local tourism ", says Elena Martínez, deputy director general of the Codespa Foundation.
"Once we have the possibility of traveling again, we will prioritize those isolated, remote and rural travel experiences where a large number of small-scale tour operators and entrepreneurs are concentrated," continues Martínez.
A trend with which the latest publications of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) also coincide : "It is foreseeable that in the short and medium term long-distance trips will be reduced. Especially business trips given the efficiency shown by these days the teleworking and videoconferencing. But the proximity ones that generate more confidence, a sense of control and less expense among travelers can recover earlier. (...) Something similar happened in 2001, after the attacks of 9/11 ".
Back to town
Along the same lines, Pilar Manrique, head of HomeExchange in Spain, one of the largest tourist rental platforms, points out that "when all this happens, it will be time to bet on our business and start the internal tourism engine. In addition, we will have the necessary learning to rethink some behaviors, such as traveling more sustainably . "
That Spain has a remarkable heritage to meet the needs of practically any traveler is a no-brainer. Gastronomy, culture, beaches, nature ... We have such a variety and richness of offer that the restriction of movements in the short and medium term should not be a problem.
In this sense, Turespaña , an agency under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, has launched the campaign Spain awaits you on social networks to stimulate national tourism and transmit certainty and confidence to the international visitor.
The Association of the Most Beautiful Towns of Spain (made up of 94 municipalities) has also produced a video to remind everyone "that soon we will live our towns again, to see our children run through their streets, in short, that we will soon return to be us, a wonderful country . "
And our neighbors? In countries like Italy , another tourist power hit hard by Covid-19, they face a situation very similar to that of Spain. According to the Corriere della Sera published this week, they estimate a loss of 25 million foreign tourists and it will be difficult for Italians themselves to travel outside their borders because many countries will prevent it or establish a quarantine.
To the beach in Plexiglas cubicles
So in the hypothetical scenario of beaches open to local tourism, they are being weighed from arranging umbrellas 15 meters apart to establishing time slots for people at risk or, in a fancy show, creating plexiglass cubicles around the sun loungers to avoid contact between families, as proposed by the Modena company Nuova Neon Group.
Airlines and cruises are a separate chapter. While airlines such as Emirates have already begun to carry out rapid tests on their passengers, it seems that other preventive measures will be imposed : the central seats of each row will be empty, no food will be served on board, you will have to wear a mask and wash your hands with Frequently the courtesy pillows and blankets will disappear ...
As for the cruises , although they already had on board hydro-alcohol dispensers and their crew was extremely neat, the ships were still closed spaces. Most of the shipping companies have ceased their activity until the end of June, although everything will depend on the measures imposed by each country in its ports, so medium-term offshore trips are unknown.
But let's stay calm. We, at least, will always have the town.
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