Tourism has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector is gradually recovering all over the world. Direction Spain, Greece and Colombia.
In Spain, tourists and their nuisances return to Barcelona
Park Güell, the Boqueria market or the Sagrada Familia are once again taken by storm. Since Easter, Barcelona has been full of tourists and we mainly hear French spoken. “For three years this is our first tripsays Béatrice, a young retiree from Lille who came with friends. It’s wonderful, it’s a very beautiful city. There are lots of things to see and do. We enjoy.” Hotels in Barcelona and the Costa Brava have 90% occupancy rates. This is the same level as in 2019. This is good news in a city where tourism accounts for 14% of jobs. “These are tourists who want to spend more than beforesays Bruno Hallé, specialist in the hotel sector. They were able to save money and want to spend it now. And we have good forecasts for the next few months.”
The return of mass tourism is accompanied by nuisances. For more than two years with the Covid-19 epidemic, the people of Barcelona have reclaimed the city center. For example, we saw children playing in the fountains of the very touristy Plaza Real. But for a few days, the nuisances have therefore returned: saturated streets, noise, impact on the environment. “I don’t think we learned anythingdeplores Jordi who lives next to the Rambla. We have to find a balance and someone has to do something because this city is still ours. Of course, tourism brings wealth, but we cannot live on that alone. This tourism is not sustainable.” But after two very complicated years for the city’s economy, the decrease in tourism that the town hall was calling for no longer seems really topical.
In Greece, the season looks promising
The country has already started to lift its health restrictions in view of the tourist season that Greece opened last March before everyone else. A season that looks very promising despite inflation of 8% and the war in Ukraine. With the exception of Russians and Ukrainians who came en masse mainly to the north of the country, tourists are back, it’s undeniable. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, the reservation rate for the months of May, June, July and August exceeds 70%. This is valid for the islands but also for Athens. “This year, we started with 150 covers compared to 70 in 2021. And now, daily, we have 40 to 70 covers where in 2021 we had 20. We did not expect it, the season will be very good”explains Manolis who works in catering in a luxury hotel restaurant in the capital which opened on April 1.
After two years of low season, the country hopes to be ready to face this tourist season. The hotel infrastructure is ready but 50,000 employees are missing in the hotel and restaurant industry. Foreign seasonal workers have returned home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and have not returned and Greeks are increasingly refusing to work in this sector ten to fourteen hours a day, without a day off, and for 700 euros. The Greek salad may be slow to arrive on the plates
In Bolivia, tourism professionals are unhappy
In this South American country, if the streets are once again filled with tourists, especially local tourists, the recovery of international tourism is not yet won. For a few days, professionals in the sector have been indignant at what they consider to be obstacles to visits from abroad. Since Monday, they have been protesting in particular against a decree which requires tourists to enter their address in a register each time they travel. A tedious obligation, and which gives a feeling of policing. Professionals also mention other obligations that could discourage visitors: the PCR test still compulsory on entry to the territory or the visa requirement for certain countries, such as Israel and the United States. Painful administrative procedures that put off some tourists.
The pandemic has strongly impacted tourism in Bolivia. The tourism sector was struggling before the arrival of Covid-19. In November 2019, there were serious political problems which forced many tourists to quickly leave the country. By the time visitors regained their confidence, the world discovered confinement. A positive point, however, concerns the activation of local tourism. Civil servants were even granted more vacation days if they decided to go on an organized trip to the country. But a black point remains, it is a tourism that is not very responsible, often at a discount. For example in 2021, local agencies were taking dozens and dozens of visitors without equipment to a glacier in La Paz. It ended in tragedy, there was a death, a fall on a snowboard, which, under good conditions, should not have happened.