Alicante: worst hospitality July in years, and August isn't recovering

The Costa Blanca full of tourists, the terraces empty: the July that doesn't add up

The Costa Blanca is packed to the brim on the sand this summer, but there's plenty of room on the terraces. Hotel occupancy is hitting record figures; bar and restaurant takings are not. Alicante's hospitality businesses have sounded the alarm: spending per tourist has plummeted and the July just gone was the worst in years. August, they warn, is trinc the same path.

Less purchasing power, less spending

The hotel associations agree on the diagnosis: tourists, whether domestic or international, arrive with tighter budgets and cut back on discretionary spending. The big occupancy figures don't translate into cash. The sector had hoped the arrival of visitors would save the summer; what it has found instead is a crowd that strolls along, looks at the menu and, more and more often, orders just a drink or nothing at all.

The perfect storm: rising prices and shrinking portions

The sector has been raising prices for years — increases of 30% and even 50% over two or three seasons are cited — while at the same time shrinking the plate: portions with 30% less food and more air or batter. Some sum it up as the perfect storm: when customers feel they're being ripped off, even the tourist with money to spend thinks twice. Meanwhile, the supermarket is becoming the new go-to hospitality venue.

Free market, sure — but only when it squeezes the other guy. Now that it's squeezing the sector itself, the complaint is unanimous. The parallel with August 2007, with terraces full just before the great crisis, invites a wary glance at the next bill. Let's hope September's tourists pay for what wasn't collected in August. It's not as if they lack the habit.