Marbella’s Tourism Struggles to Recover Post-Pandemic
A picture of Carmen Street in the Old Town (Photo: Marbella Tourism) reveals that Marbella is still struggling to recover its pre-pandemic tourism figures this summer. The month of July even saw a decrease in hotel visitors compared to 2022, and the numbers are far from those of 2018 and 2019. Overnight stays have increased, but they still haven’t reached the pre-Covid-19 period. The average stay is up, but occupancy is down.
Government Propaganda vs Reality
Despite the propaganda deployed by the city council’s governing team, the truth is that tourism in Marbella is still struggling to recover and reach the figures it had before the pandemic.
Hotel Occupancy Survey Results
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) published the Hotel Occupancy Survey (EOH) for the month of July, one of the strongest of the summer season, on Tuesday. The first conclusion for Marbella is negative, as both the figures for hotel tourists and overnight stays are quite far from those of 2019, something that also happened in May and June. Now, July leaves a striking figure as the decrease in visitors is due to a drop in the number of foreigners, who always support the statistics.
Visitor Statistics
According to the INE, Marbella received 83,277 visitors who stayed in hotels in July, which is 1,725 less than last year (-2.03%). This figure is far from the 95,039 who arrived in 2019, and even further from the record set in 2018 with 97,401. The arrival of foreign tourists (58,092) dropped compared to 2022 (62,556), although the nationals (25,185) increased compared to a year ago (22,446).
Overnight Stays
In July, there were 354,347 overnight stays in Marbella, which is 17,722 more hotel nights than last year (336,625). The figure is striking, as there are fewer tourists, but they stay longer in the municipality compared to 2022. However, the comparison with the same period in 2019 is negative as there were 366,744 overnight stays, almost 12,400 more than now. The record for a month of July was set in 2015 with 397,689, which is still far away.
Other Data
The occupancy rate per room was 77.67%, a figure lower than last year (79.73%), also lower than 2019 (80.96%) and the record of 2016 (82.69%). In July, according to the INE, 90 establishments were open, 8 more than in the same month of 2022. The average stay has slightly increased to 4.26 days, although it does not exceed the 4.95 of 2017. The revenue per available room (RevPar) in July was 220.78 euros, less than last year (233.72). The average price of the room in Marbella’s establishments was 283.85 euros, also lower than 2022 (291.67 euros). As for the staff employed by the hotels, according to the INE, it was 4,019 workers, less than the 4,507 of 2022 and the 4,986 of 2019. Therefore, the situation continues to be complicated, with Marbella’s hotel tourism sector not reaching pre-pandemic levels.
