The recovery of international tourism in Spain after the pandemic

Abstract

Rationale International tourism indicators in Spain are consolidating their recovery towards pre-pandemic levels, after virtually all restrictions on international travel were lifted. Against this background, the changes observed in tourists’ country of origin and travel behaviour should be analysed. Takeaways •Tourist flows are yet to fully recover 2019 levels, essentially due to the continued weakness in long-haul tourism, particularly from Asia. •However, tourism receipts have already reached pre-crisis levels, driven in part by Spain attractingmore visitors with greater spending power, as borne out by the rising proportion of higher quality hotelaccommodation. •The expectations for the next three months are somewhat cautious due to the uncertainty promptedby the deteriorating economic outlook and the upsurge in inflation. In the long-term, internationaltourism flows will be shaped by the sector’s capacity to continue improving the quality of its tourismoffering.

The Balance of Payments and International Investment Position of Spain in 2022

“…These developments were strongly marked by higher energy prices (up more than 58%), 3 associated with the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to which was added the depreciation of the euro, particularly in the first three quarters of the year. Another, albeit smaller, contributor to the deterioration of the energy trade balance was the 23% increase in the volume of imports, 4 which was influenced by the fall-out of the war in Ukraine, specifically the strategy to store and re-export energy goods to other EU countries to tackle potential supply problems (García Esteban, Gómez Loscos and Martín Machuca, 2023b). In this setting, although Spain's energy exports also increased considerably (by over 80% in nominal terms and 25% in volume 5 ),…”

“…Net lending continued thanks to services and the capital account Balance of payments. Balances also spurred by imported products replacing energy-intensive domestic goods production and by a demand composition effect towards products with a higher import content (García Esteban, Gómez Loscos and Martín Machuca, 2023b).…”

Recent developments in Spanish exports of non-travel services

“…The recovery in trade and tourist flows helped revitalise services relating to goods maintenance, processing and repair without transfer of ownership and transport services, against a backdrop of higher freight and passenger transport costs. Passenger transport receipts appear to have room for further growth, as longhaul tourism, which involves higher transport costs (particularly from Asia) returns to normal(García, Gómez Loscos and Martín Machuca, 2023). Exports of telecommunications, computer and information services, which rebounded strongly in the last two years following their decline in 2020, have continued to rise, in a setting of ongoing digitalisation of the Spanish economy.…”