After a year and a half of the pandemic, a good part of society is anxious to travel. The improvement in the epidemiological situation – thanks to an intense vaccination campaign and efforts by citizens – together with a reduction in the mobility restrictions, means we can look forward to a significant reactivation of tourism with a view to the summer.
Source: Travel Insights with Google
And in this return to relative normality in travel and tourism, Spain appears to be very well positioned. According to Google statistics, our country is among the three most searched for destinations by users who are thinking of travelling and seeking accommodation over the next few months in the world. Only the United States and Italy are more popular, while Spain stands ahead of other tourism and economic powerhouses such as United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
These are the data offered by the new tool introduced by the US giant - Travel Insights with Google - which offers statistics with local data and in real time, allowing companies and hotels in the sector to be aware of the demand and take decisions based on concrete data. Specifically, the ranking of the most searched for countries dates back to 9 June – the latest figures available on the platform.
The three favourite Spanish destinations of Google users in the first week of June are Ibiza, Madrid and Barcelona, followed by such other coastal destinations as Benidorm, Malaga and Maspalomas.
Constant growth
According to the Google tool, the search for Spain as a tourist destination has maintained stable growth since the end of the state of emergency on 9 May. In the first week of June, there was double the number of searches as in the same period last year, accounting for almost 50% more than at the start of May. The first few days of each week tend to post the highest number of searches, and it is expected that the next update based on 14 June will mark another record.
Source: Travel Insights with Google
By country, users from Germany are those who show the greatest interest in Spain as a tourist destination, followed by users from France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Most of the searches for Spain, however, are recorded from within the country, thus pointing to a reactivation of national tourism.
Spain and several of its cities, moreover, figure among the destinations with the highest increase in demand in the world, thanks to recent changes in the mobility regulations. Specifically, it is the fifth ranked country to see the highest growth in searches in the first week of June (up 10% - 20%), while, by city, Madrid – with search growth of between 25% and 50% in the same week – stands in second place, ahead of New York, Paris and Istanbul. Ibiza and Barcelona, ranked in 8th and 9th position respectively, also appear in this top 10, with search growth of between 10% and 25%.
Source: Travel Insights with Google
Growth in sustainable tourism
As well as the data offered by Google, there are other data that point to optimism in the summer tourism campaign. According to the travel portal Weekendesk.es, reservations for sustainable tourism destinations in our country have shot up by 237% in the last year. These figures place Spain as one of the destinations where this type of tourism has most consolidated its position, above the average (189%) of all the markets analysed, which include France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Catalonia is the autonomous region to post the greatest demand for this type of holiday, accounting for 75% of the reservations for eco-sustainable accommodation – those with renewable energy sources and concerned to reduce the environmental impact of their activity as much as possible. It is followed by Andalusia (14%) and the Region of Valencia (9%). Moreover, according to Weekendesk, the residents of these regions post the greatest demand for this type of holiday, frequently in conjunction with gastronomic activities.