Black August for tourism on Spain’s Costa del Sol with less than 40% occupancy rate predicted due to UK quarantine

HOTELIERS on the Costa del Sol have predicted dire occupation numbers for August, the most important month of the season.

The occupation forecasts for this month have been reduced to 39.9%, as announced on Monday by the Association of Hotel Owners of the Costa del Sol (AEHCOS).

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Like other tourism hotspots in the country, the Costa del Sol has to face the fall of its primary market, the UK, due to the quarantine imposed by Boris Johnson’s government on tourists arriving from Spain.

Hoteliers on the Costa del Sol closed the month of July with an occupancy rate of 40.4%, 24% of which was made by international tourists.

“The significant decline in the British market has stung us these two months. In Malaga alone, they represent 26% of the reservations,” said a spokesperson from the AEHCOS.

Some 90% of British reservations have now been cancelled, representing 70% of arrivals to Malaga.

Employers in the sector are confident that the British Government will reverse the quarantine measure imposed.

However, even a change of course would not guarantee a recovery in the market, given that in addition to the cancellations, tour operators such as TUI have stopped operating in the peninsula and Jet2.com has suspended flights until mid-August.