I was doing an interview for The Siesta Show yesterday and we had quite an interesting chat. I will put the actual show on this page next week when it has been aired.
Anyway, one of the things we talked about was -
where have all the deals gone?
CAR HIRE
Car hire is an interesting topic, I would say that Spain is one the biggest countries for tourist car hire in the world (America is obviously so big its number 1!).
It’s not unusual for the car hire companies at the main airports to run out of cars during the peek couple of weeks in August BUT they only normally run out of cars a few days before.
This year has been different......Most of the car hire companies thought this year was going to be a disaster for tourism and cut their car fleets by around 20 - 30%. In fact the cuts were so aggressive and quick that in the week leading unto Easter there was NOT A SINGLE car left for hire at Malaga Airport - (the taxis must have been rubbing their hands).
The knock on effect this will have over the peek summer months is obvious and from the data I have here I can see that the car hire costs are already climbing way higher than last year and my prediction is that many companies will simply be SOLD OUT of cars by the time we get to mid July!
So no deals on car hire at the main Spanish Airports this summer!
What’s happening With Flights?
Another interesting one... A lot of the routes have been reduced, I travel to London a lot and on MOST days the last flight I can get out of Gatwick or London is around 1730 - 1800. For the last few years I used to get flights at around 20:00.
Although companies like Aer Lingus have opened a few new routes on the whole I would say that flights have been slashed.
Another Example is Flybe from Exeter to Malaga. I like Flybe, good airline, good planes and good staff! I am sure that there was a daily flight between Exeter and Malaga last year..This year there are 4 flights per week....not huge changes but subtle and enough to keep the flights that are working full.
On the whole for peek travel months of July and August....I haven't seen any change in the prices of flights.
Hotels & Holiday Apartments
This is the one area where there are definitely deals to be had!
Unlike car hire companies and airlines the hotels can't suddenly cut capacity, they can't loose 100 rooms (although I have heard of Hotels in Dubai closing whole floors).
The same with private rental holiday apartments, people still have them and need to get them let.
We also have a couple of holiday apartments in La Maestranza, Marbella and whilst we are getting enquiries this year EVERYONE is after a deal (and rightly so!).
We have also had a lot more bookings for just a week or so in advance. Normally by the end of March the apartments would be fully booked for June, July and August. This year we are not yet fully booked BUT we are getting enquiries where the visitors want to come over in the next week or so.
Why is this happening?
I think it’s down to the fact that most people are worried about their jobs and income and are waiting to see how things pan out. As some people go through the year and realize that everything is OK with their jobs so they start to think maybe they will have that holiday after all.
The only sad thing is that if you are from the UK the prices look so expensive compared to last year or the year before....
It's sad for 2 reasons.....for those of us who operate in Euros; we have to drop our prices to attract the UK Tourists whose pound is weaker....
And the UK tourists pay less in Euros but are paying more or less the same in pounds as last year or the year before....so no real winners there either!
I think this is what's happened to the Hotels in Spain. The change in the pound has left them looking really expensive BUT the hotel outgoings remain the same....if they slash their prices too hard to appeal to the UK market they might end up not being able to pay the bills.....a difficult and delicate balance!
All in all I think if you are coming over to Spain this year then you should be able to get flights, cars and accommodation at a good price BUT not at the bargain prices many people are expecting.
I think the other subtle change we will see this year is the change in habits of the holiday maker. It is still very cheap to come on holiday and sit by a pool or go to the beach the expensive bit is eating out and the treats.
I know a lot of people are coming out over the summer for their usual 4 week holiday and instead of eating out every night they are eating out perhaps twice per week...it's a compromise but a worthy one!
Labels: holidays
