Hotel Destinations: Mediterranean resorts
Mediterranean resorts rebound strongly in a post-pandemic world
- Ana Ivanovic
- Jessica Jahns
In 2019, Spain, Portugal and Greece welcomed c.177 million international arrivals, according to the World Bank, positioning the region as one of the world’s most popular resort destinations. For all three countries, the travel sector is a critical economic driver representing between c.14% and 20% of country’s GDP, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, 2019.
During the summer of 2020, tourists largely preferred to stay within their home country and avoided travelling abroad due to the strict travel restrictions and fear of the unknown.
The successful vaccination rollout in most EU countries, in combination with the pent-up demand has led to a far more positive trend during the summer season of 2021, despite the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.
During the months of July, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek key resort airports welcomed c.10 million passenger arrivals in total, representing c.60% of the 2019 traffic during the same month.
