Partial recovery of tourism after Covid expected this summer despite war and inflation

The tourism sector will have to wait until 2023 to see pre-pandemic travel figures return, but a partial recovery this summer on the previous two is expected, according to travel agency association (Acave) president Jordi Martí.

Agents expect 20% to 40% fewer bookings on 2019, and, while "conflicts and inflation are not contributing to optimism, a recovery is expected."

Indeed, in an internal survey by the entity, 78% of its members stated that the rising cost of fuel is affecting the number of reservations, while 70% of travel agencies say the Ukraine war is "slowing down" some bookings, without these cancelations directly stemming from the situation in Eastern Europe – although hopes that Russian tourists would come this year were scrapped weeks ago.

Tourism accounts for 12% of Catalonia's GDP, thus the health crisis and a decrease in travel saw the economy and employment in the sector take a hard hit.

Yet, Acave said on Wednesday that 60% of travel agencies in the association no longer have employees in temporary layoffs, while 35% of them expect to hire more staff this summer season.

"People want to travel. They have spent two years not traveling. And this is quite obvious: they want to resume their mid-and long-distance trips that have been the most badly affected," said Acave's manager, Catiana Tur. 

Indeed, last week the Catalan tourism office (ACT) organized a small trip for 40 American tour operators to discover new attractions across the territory. The goal was to attract American travelers after the Covid-19 pandemic as it they are a key market for the tourism industry.