Despite international uncertainties, the Catalan Camping Federation expects a positive trend

In 2022 the demand of the tourism sector in Catalonia will continue to point upwards, as in the last two years, approaching the 2019 data. All this despite the difficulties created by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia on the tourism sector. This is the forecast of the Catalan Federation of Campsites (FCC) presented in recent days during a webinar carried out together with Caixabank and the economist Javier Ibáñez de Aldecoa, coordinator of the “Report on the tourism sector“.

On the occasion, it was explained that the aggressive increase in the price of fuel affects land transport more than air transport, because many of the major airlines operating in Spain have blocked fuel prices for 2022. This is perhaps the most worrying figure. for the camping sector, because the majority of international customers reach Spanish and Portuguese accommodation facilities by land, by car or motorhome.

However, this impact of transport costs will be countered by the good geographical position: on the one hand, there is a loss of interest of users in travel to countries close to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in favor of countries such as Spain and Portugal; on the other hand, many of the international campers welcomed every year come from relatively close countries (France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, United Kingdom and so on). Therefore, it will continue to be cheaper to drive to the Iberian Peninsula than to more distant destinations.

However, the rise in the price of energy, food and the upward trend in employee wages will directly affect the profit margins of each campsite. The fact that the time of purchase of services is different from the time of production will significantly affect the gross operating margin of economic activity. For this reason, it was emphasized that each campsite should evaluate its own situation in a personalized way, adjusting the prices of its services to counteract this increase in overall costs.

In conclusion, the uncertainties caused by the conflict will not be lacking, but the demand of the tourism sector in the territory is the strongest compared to any other sector, as demonstrated by the Catalan campsites in the last two seasons. And this positive trend will not change.