Marbella Tourist Season peaks earlier in 2015

Marbella and other Costa del Sol resorts are seeing record hotel bookings for the month of June, having already registered more than two million overnight stays. This represents a growth rate of 4.3% on the same month in 2014 and is a clear indication that June is no longer the poor relation to the peak season. Forecasts for the Costa del Sol as a whole reveal that the month of June will in future be as popular as the traditional holiday months of July and August.

Costa del Sol Tourism Sector more confident

The regional government's Tourism Department confirmed that 2,040,000 overnight stays in Costa del Sol hotels. This figures doesn't even include residential tourism, meaning people who come to stay in their own holiday homes in Fuengirola, Estepona or Marbella for example. 

Malaga Province's hotel sector is confident the trend will continue and some hotel managers have confirmed their hotels are fully booked on several days in June. At the four MS Hotels, run by manager Miguel Sánchez, management expects a 92% occupancy rate for the month. The French market seems to be undergoing a recovery, he explained, since more bookings from French tourists have come in. 

Last year, Sánchez explained, was "excellent" with an occupancy rate of 86%, but 2015 is expected to best that rate. "Some of our hotels are already fully booked on several days this month," he added.

Malaga Province sees extended Holiday Season 

Carlos Franco, manager of the Meliá Costa del Sol Hotel, confirmed that it's not just June which is busier. September has also been busier in the past two years. It has become apparent that some tourists, who would typically come in July or August are now arriving in June or September, when prices tend to be 25% lower and beaches are not as crowded.

"The good thing about this year, is not only that we are expecting an 85 per cent occupancy rate, which is an increase of two per cent, but we were also up by two or three per cent in May and even the winter was better. This year is different, not so much because of the good prospects for the summer but because we have had a better low season," Carlos Franco said.

According to Sergio García, the president of the Travel Agents of Andalucía Association (Aedav), sales for this summer season have risenn by between 4% and 5%.

"We have had a good start to the year. Easter Week was very good and that is always an indicator of how the summer will go," he said, adding that source markets were Britain, Germany, northern Europe and some business came from Russia.

Meanwhile, the president of the Costa del Sol's hoteliers association (Aehcos), 

José Carlos Escribano, believes that June 2015 will yield even better results than June 2014, which was already a record month.

"We are up by between two or three per cent. Sales have been going well and that makes us cautiously optimistic about the peak season too,” Escribano enthused. 

Increased Advance Bookings

There has also been a move away from tourists' long-term strategy of bagging bargains with last-minute bookings. Greater advance bookings enable hoteliers to plan more effectively with far less price reductions. June's excellent occupancy rates did not come via discounting, professionals in the sector confirmed.

According to Elías Bendodo, the president of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, the Costa del Sol's peak season is also becoming longer. 

"The figures for September, (529,687 hotel guests in 2014) have meant that June is becoming part of the summer and May and October (with 450,000 or more) are also approaching the figures we have traditionally expected in the peak season," Bendodo explained. 

Bars and restaurants, car hire businesses, water- and theme parks have had to adjust their staffing levels on a weekly basis since Easter to deal effectively with demand. Overall, the president of the beach businesses based at the Costa del Sol, Manuel Villafaina, believes that businesses will increase by 10% in June 2015, based on the hotel bookings and increased tourist expenditure seen so far this year. 

Again, these estimates leave out residential tourism, which accounts for a significant amount of expenditure flowing into local businesses. Since most budget carriers raise their prices for Spanish destinations in July and August, more holiday home owners are visiting their Marbella residences in June and September, when flight tickets are cheaper.