DUBAI, MADRID
\nSpain and Portugal are experiencing a surge in late spring and summer flight and hotel bookings as millions of travelers steer away from war-affected destinations and hubs in and around the Middle East, industry data show.
\nSummer flight bookings to Spain, including transit, soared 32 percent year-on-year as of April 2, while hotel searches rose 28 percent, according to digital travel marketing platform Sojern. Portugal recorded a 21 percent rise in flight bookings, with hotel searches up 16 percent.
\nTravel data firm Mabrian noted a pullback from Middle Eastern destinations last month and an uptick for the southern Mediterranean, with Spain, which rivals France as the world\u2019s most \u200cvisited country, the \u200cmain beneficiary of the shift.
\nIn contrast, the eastern Mediterranean, including EU member Cyprus where a drone struck a British air base on March 2, has been hit by a wave of cancelations, highlighting the broader fallout from the Iran war.
\nSpain\u2019s industry group Exceltur has nudged up its projections since the conflict started on Feb. 28, a modest upgrade that is still important at a time when inflation, geopolitical and economic concerns are curbing consumer spending and discouraging some travel.
\n\u201cSummer holidays are planned months in advance. As destinations that attract large numbers of tourists are affected by the conflict, a significant part of this safe-haven effect is already materializing in \u200cpurchases and bookings to Spain,\u201d Exceltur Vice President Oscar \u200cPerelli said.
\nSylvia Weiler, Sojern\u2019s general manager for global destinations, added: \u201cTravelers are adapting rather than retreating.\u201d
\nUp to \u200c181 million tourists visit the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean annually. Spain alone received a \u200crecord 97 million last year.
\nExceltur last week forecast Spain\u2019s tourism activity would grow 2.5 percent in real terms this year to 227 billion euros ($267 billion) up from a previous 2.4 percent projection and last year\u2019s 2.1 percent expansion.
\nIt estimates diverted tourists could generate an additional 4.2 billion euros to that industry total this year.
\nThe sector, a \u200ccornerstone of the economy that has helped Spain outpace most European peers in the past few years, is expected to expand faster than overall economic growth, which is forecast at 2.3 percent.
\nSpain\u2019s main hotel association Cehat expects room occupancy rates to rise by up to 3 percent this summer. \u201cTourists are choosing destinations farther from Mediterranean conflict zones, such as the Canary Islands, for their summer family holidays,\u201d said Cehat President Jorge Marichal, warning however that gains could be offset by a reduction in overall travel.
\nAirlines are boosting capacity, with nearly 6 percent more seats available in April than a year ago, according to the official tourism agency Turespa\u00f1a, with the strongest increases on flights from the United States and Britain.
\nHowever, higher jet fuel prices and further disruptions for long-haul travelers at Middle Eastern transit hubs could curtail the gains, Exceltur cautioned.
\nCehat\u2019s Marichal was more blunt: \u201cIt will all depend on what happens in the Strait of Hormuz, because all these forecasts could go out the window.\u201d
\nThe strait, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas exports transit, has been all-but-shut during the Iran war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI, MADRID Spain and Portugal are experiencing a surge in late spring and summer flight and hotel bookings as millions of travelers steer away from war-affected destinations and hubs in and around the Middle East, industry data show. Summer flight bookings to Spain, including transit, soared 32 percent year-on-year as of April 2, while hotel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-542203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n