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Tourism atrophies in Europe
Clouds over the Mediterranean
Aug 13th 2009 | PARIS AND ROME
From The Economist print edition
The recession clobbers one of Europe’s biggest industries
AFP
Another disaster in Pompeii
HOW badly is the recession hurting Europe’s tourism industry during the all-important summer holidays?
The outlook is grim, judging by the trend set earlier in the year. After slipping in the second half of 2008,
passenger numbers in Italian airports fell by 13.4% in the first quarter of this year. Spain recorded a
similar fall between January and June, with airports on Lanzarote (down 19.1%) and Tenerife (down
17.8%), two popular holiday islands, losing more than most. The French Riviera is suffering, too: Nice
airport reported a drop of 8% in passengers during the first half of the year. Firms have slashed travel
budgets, families are spending less on leisure and Europe’s airports are feeling the pain.
For hotels as well, the recession is biting in France, Spain and Italy, Europe’s biggest holiday destinations.
During the first five months of the year, the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors in French hotels
fell by 15.5%. The number of foreigners who visited Spain in the first six months was 11.4% lower than in
2008. The situation is equally grim in Italy, where overnight stays by foreign guests were 11.5% lower in
the first half of the year. Bernabo Bocca, chairman of the Italian hoteliers’ association, described the
results as a debacle.
Many jobs are at risk. In 2007, before the recession struck, France boasted nearly 200,000 hotels,
pensions, campsites, restaurants, cafés and travel agencies, which employed almost 900,000 people on
average during the year and took in some €70 billion ($96 billion). Spain had about 293,000 firms, with
1.4m employees and a turnover of €80 billion. Around 270,000 firms work in tourism in Italy and Mr
Bocca says the 15% drop in turnover expected this year will quickly lead to job losses. Rome’s hoteliers’
association fears its members will shed 10,000 jobs this year.
Italy has beaches, mountains and lakes, and claims more artistic treasures than any other country. But
last year 7.4% fewer people visited the Doge’s palace in Venice than in 2007, and attendance was down
by 3.8% at Florence’s Uffizi gallery and 12.4% at Pompeii. Yet some attractions hold their own.
Disneyland Paris, Europe’s biggest crowd-puller with 15.3m visitors in the year to last September,
reported a slight pick-up in the next six months. But that was something of a pyrrhic victory. Occupancy
at the park’s hotels was 2.7 percentage points lower, average spending by visitors fell by 3.7% and
revenues by 7.3%. At museums, resorts and theme parks, expectations for this year and next are
generally poor.
The euro’s strength against the pound and the dollar adds to the problems of European tourism’s big
three. Britain sends more tourists to Spain than any other country, but the 6.1m that arrived between
January and June were 16% fewer than during the same period of 2008. British and American tourists are
the most numerous guests at expensive hotels in particular, so the luxury hoteliers of Paris and Rome are
feeling their absence.
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