Tendencias del mercado

🛫 Óscar Puente, Spain's Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, downplayed today's chaotic day at Aena's network, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. The failure of Microsoft's systems, impacting 400 flights with cancellations and numerous delays, caused significant disarray, contradicting the minister's minimal disruption claims. Nevertheless, he praised Aena and staff for maintaining near-normal operations. Discrepancies are evident between Puente's remarks and the widespread reports of chaos on social media and news outlets.

💸 Aena announced potential flight delays across its Spanish network due to a "computer system incident". The issue, linked to a global Microsoft failure affecting thousands of companies, may stem from a Crowdstrike cybersecurity software update. Operations continue manually as the problem occurred on a weekend peak season morning.

🏖️ Andalucía, Cataluña, Comunidad Valenciana, Galicia, and Asturias show a demand drop in hotel reservations compared to 2023. Spanish bookings decreased by 10%, and UK bookings by 8.8%. Paris airport strike called off 10 days before the Olympics, with an expected 15.3 million visitors, 90% French, nearly half from Île-de-France.

🎢 In Spain, cruise tourism has seen an almost 7% increase in the first five months compared to the same period in 2023. Overall, the tourism sector grew by 14% with projections of 12% growth by the end of 2024, while cruise activity is expected to grow by 5%. Barcelona, Europe's leading cruise port, experienced a 4% growth in passenger arrivals by May, contributing 15% to the city's tourism tax despite representing only 4% of tourists. Canaries, Spain's second-most-important cruise destination, showed excellent performance during winter, and Palma expects little to no growth in 2024 despite the broader sector's predicted 15% rise in the city.

💶 En Asunción, un Boeing 787 de Air Europa con 336 pasajeros sufrió un incidente durante el despegue en el Aeropuerto Internacional Silvio Pettirossi debido al impacto de un ave. Los pilotos tuvieron que realizar un aterrizaje de emergencia siguiendo el protocolo de liberación de combustible. Después del incidente, el avión fue reparado para retomar los vuelos.

🏘 Nearly 10,000 people protested in Palma on May 25 against mass tourism under the slogan "Mallorca is not for sale. Enough is enough," organized by Banc del Temps de Sencelles. Another demonstration is scheduled for July 21, titled "Change the course: set limits to tourism." Housing in the Balearics costs an average of €17.57 per square meter, 50% more than Spain's average, making it the country's most expensive region. Campaigns like "Save Mallorca, it's now or never" began in 2018, with the 2023 Social Summit against Tourism formed under "Less tourism, more life.

✈ Four major French air sector unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, UNSA) called for a strike on Wednesday, July 17, at Paris' two main airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly. They demand that Aeroports de Paris (APD) apply Olympic bonuses, offered to some staff for the Games, universally and improve working conditions. The strike comes nine days before the Olympic Games' opening ceremony on July 26. Uncertainty surrounds potential flight cancellations, but air traffic controllers will not participate due to an "Olympic truce." Ground services, not flight operations, are affected, and administrative staff have been deployed to handle the increased tourist flow. Initially, APD allocated €70 per shift to "volunteers" and €100 for "critical" days, later granting a unilateral €1,000 bonus to "operational" agents amidst discontent from other airport employees.

🏨 Riu Hotels & Resorts, led by CEO Luis Riu, anticipates matching its record 2023 performance with revenues of €3.607 billion, a 24% increase from 2022. This growth marks the highest since its inception in 1953. With hotel occupancy rates in Spain reaching around 90%, the strength comes from both European and domestic tourists. Despite this growth, Luis Riu expects a stabilization within the next one to two years.

🏖️ Over-tourism affects key destinations globally. Post-pandemic travel interest surged, surpassing 2019 levels. Cities like Venice now charge entry fees, and attractions limit visitor numbers. Civitatis COO, Enrique Espinel, emphasizes sustainable tourism and authentic experiences, with Civitatis offering tours in 4,000 destinations across 160 countries. Agencies began partnering with Civitatis in 2017 to provide personalized travel experiences. Civitatis advocates for exploring lesser-known destinations and responsible travel, detailed in sustainability guidelines on their website.

✈ Airbus A330neo sales reached only 42 units in 2023, far behind the A320 with 1,835 units and the A350's 300 units. Malaysia Airlines plans to receive four of the 20 A330neos ordered in 2024. Airbus is promoting the model via a social media miniseries "The Heir Apparent," focusing on design, cabin features, and engine efficiency. China's purchase of 100 aircraft could be the A330neo's salvation after talks between former French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping.