THE ailing Spanish economy, which has been in the doldrums for the past five years, has taken a toll on outbound business to Asia.
Teresa Sans, manager of Sol D’or, a Barcelona-based travel agency where corporate and incentives comprise 75-80 per cent of its business, said: “Outbound leisure and incentive segments have been quiet this year, although the corporate segment is still good. Our incentive business has dropped 15 per cent since two years ago, while leisure business went down by 20 per cent during the same period.”
According to Emily Bong, Asia Pacific contract manager for transHotel, the global B2B travel services provider headquartered in Madrid has also seen business volume originating from Spain dip by 20 per cent since 2012.
Meanwhile, repercussions of the Spanish economic slump are felt by South-east Asian sellers.
“Since last year, the Spanish market has gone down by a third during the low season of July to September (the peak outbound travel season for Spanish nationals). While the Spanish market used to make up five to 10 per cent of our business, it is now less than five per cent,” said Sabine Widmann, chief sales officer, ICS Travel Group, a regional tour operator based in Bangkok.
Ray Clark, general manager of The Samaya Bali, commented: “The Spanish market used to represent about 18 per cent of our European business, but it is now down to one to two per cent. We have since turned to Germany, the UK, France and Switzerland to pick up the slack from Spain.”
As Spaniards’ buying power erodes, Spain has inevitably evolved to become a very price-sensitive market, trade players observed.
Clark has observed shorter length of stay among his Spanish guests, from 21 days in the past to the current average of seven days.
Budget-conscious Spaniards who are now drawn to last-minute, discounted offers from travel agencies, are also booking only one to two months ahead, instead of six months in advance, according to Sans.
With Spain’s unemployment at a crippling 27 per cent despite the government’s continued austerity measures to rein in public debt, it looks unlikely that outbound travel from Spain will change dramatically anytime soon.
