Tendencias del mercado

🏖 Sunwing Vacations Group, a Canadian wholesaler, removed 26 Cuban hotels from its portfolio after nearly 30 years due to recurring power outages on the island. Canada is the top tourist source for Cuba, intensifying the impact. Notably, a four-day blackout occurred in late October, followed by hurricane-related outages and another on December 4 due to a major power plant failure. Tourism, Cuba's primary income source, faces challenges as visitor numbers decline, affecting the country's ability to rectify issues causing tourist dissatisfaction.

🏖️ Tui UK observes increased holiday sales to Egypt, Bulgaria, and Tunisia over Spain, attributed to Spain's high prices. The Guardian reports Tui's CEO, Sebastian Ebel, noting holiday prices remain high compared to 2019. Travelers with a budget of €1,000 per person seek alternatives offered by Tui. Mallorca is expected to be packed in summer; the Canary Islands are currently full in winter. Other popular destinations for British tourists include Zante in Greece, Tivat in Montenegro, Marrakech, Tirana, Agadir, Romania, Paris, Estonia, and Belgrade.

🏖️ Spanish travel agencies are set to close 2024 with a 10% increase in turnover, reaching approximately €32 billion. A Confederation of Spanish Travel Agencies (CEAV) survey shows that 56.5% improved their figures from the previous year; 23.7% remained stable, while only 19.7% reported declines. Among the gainers, 11.8% saw over a 25% increase. Employment remained stable for 69.5% of agencies; 24% hired more staff, and just 6.5% reduced personnel. Despite 64.9% reporting negative impacts from price hikes on bookings, 31.2% are optimistic for 2025, expecting revenue improvements.

🏖️ Spain gains the highest appreciation among European countries with a score of 7/10, as indicated by the latest Barómetro de Imagen de España (BIE) by Real Instituto Elcano, involving 5,809 online interviews across 10 European countries between September 25 and October 21. Notably, a third of British, Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourger tourists have visited Spain four times or more. Tourism, climate, and gastronomy are the most spontaneously mentioned attributes, while Rafael Nadal leads the association with Spanish individuals.

✈ British Airways, the largest airline of IAG group, has pilot salaries revealed: newly joined co-pilots earn £65,000 (~€78,000) per year; experienced first officers make between £100,000 and £120,000 (€120,000 - €142,000); and captains up to £167,000 annually (€200,000). Pilots and their families aren't entitled to free tickets but can purchase unsold seats last minute at 90% off or get a 10% discount on regular fares.

🏥 Hostelería de España anticipates a 6% growth in 2024 compared to the previous year. Facturation increased by 8.1% from January to September 2024 over the same period in 2023, with inflation-adjusted rises of 2.5% overall, 2.2% in accommodation, and 2.7% in restaurants. Employment in the sector grew by 3.7%, with 1.9 million workers and the addition of 66,000 jobs. In 2023, the industry maintained more than 300,000 establishments, employed 1.7 million people, and generated €157.379 billion, contributing 6.7% to the national GDP.

🏖 Europe's tourism sector salaries are projected to grow between 3% and 5% in the coming years. Spain is a key player, with up to 15% wage increases in areas like big data and responsible tourism. Sustainability-related tourism salaries in Spain have risen up to 12%, especially in destinations like the Balearics, Canaries, and Catalonia. Hotel managers in Europe are seeing salary increases from 5% to 7%, while in Eastern Europe, the figures are more modest. Spain offers non-monetary benefits to balance salary disparities, attracting talent to emerging markets. Specialized jobs in tourism are on the rise, reflecting a trend towards better-paid positions and a focus on sustainability and technology.

🎁 In Spain, the December long weekend was reduced to three days in 2024, down from five in 2023, resulting in a 5% drop in bookings according to travel agency Destinia. Despite this, Christmas holiday bookings increased by 5%. Average prices per person per night fell by 5% to €50, with Barcelona seeing a 40% decrease to €58. Benidorm and Granada experienced 20% and 33% price drops respectively. However, Valencian Community bookings plummeted 50% post-DANA storm. Madrid remains the top December destination, with Andorra growing in popularity for winter sports enthusiasts.

✈ Ryanair, the Irish airline, will start flying to Paris' second airport from April 1 next year. Previously not serving any main Paris airport, it operates from Beauvais, optimistically dubbed Paris Beauvais, 90km north, and Vatry, 150km east, with connections to Marrakech and Porto. It requested slots for Bratislava and Bergamo, indicating plans to enter Paris with ten European destinations. Despite announcing potential withdrawal from destinations due to new taxes effective January, Ryanair's slot request suggests a strategy to pressure political authorities. Ryanair is known for initially using less common airports before shifting to main ones due to demand or assured profitability.

✈ A YouTube channel owner captured a curious image: an Azul A330 on its Paris-Orly to Campinas route and a Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 Max 8 flying from Casablanca to Paris-Orly unexpectedly crossed paths. The encounter happened over the Basque Country, with both aircraft exceeding cruising speeds of 800 kilometers per hour.