Date Published: 01/07/2020
ARCHIVED - Spanish families choose safe Spain for their summer holidays
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Shorter “Staycations” are on the menu for Spanish families this summer
On Friday 3rd July “Operation Summer” begins on Spanish roads, the first Friday in July traditionally the day on which many Spanish families will pile into their cars and head to the coast for their summer holidays.
As cheap international travel has opened up their options, increasing numbers of Spaniards have been heading off abroad on low-cost flights, their loyalty to the traditional Spanish holiday diminishing…..but not this year.
The Covid crisis has ensured that this year Spaniards will stay at home and 90% of Spanish families will stay in Spain for their holidays this summer, according to the 'Study on tourist habits of travelling families for the 2020 season, in the context of the new normality', as produced by the “EnFamiliaPorEspaña initiative” which aimed to ascertain whether Spanish families would be travelling following the conclusion of the state of alarm or whether they would be too concerned about the possible risks to do so.
The report concluded that 91% of Spanish families plan to spend their holidays in a destination within Spain, either within their own region, somewhere else on the mainland or one of the offshore islands.
For 75% of the families surveyed, the main requirement for choosing the destination is that it is “undercrowded,” raising some concerns that destinations which are traditionally emptier will be the most crowded and vice versa this year.
Families also consider the use of individual protection to be very important regardless of whether they are travelling by public transport, or during their stay in the accommodation, and are keen to see the continuous disinfection of common spaces and the availability of disinfectant gels at all times.
More than half of the families said that if prices of both transport or accommodation were increased in order to provide more security measures, then they would be willing to pay an increase, in most cases up to an additional 5%.
In relation to the prevention measures that could affect a holiday, the subject of being able to enjoy facilities comfortably was considered very important. 80% felt that comfortable access to pools and children’s play areas was very important
Half of the families polled believe that the best system to manage the use and capacity of common spaces (swimming pool, hammocks, gym, children's area) is to do so by prior reservation.
46% of the families in the survey said that this year they would opt for several short stays instead of the traditional long trips, which often include a whole month at a destination. This was because short trips offered greater flexibility and not having to worry about not being able to travel if a personal or foreign unforeseen event were to occur, for example, if the family is forced to quarantine whilst at the destination.
80% of those polled said that the pandemic will change the way they organize a trip away: on the one hand, they need to invest more time in reviewing everything thoroughly and, on the other, that if there were any activities that they wanted to contract, they would do it before going, instead of improvising when they were already at the destination.
-->