The high price of energy lowers the good results of the tourism sector

BarcelonjaThe state's tourism sector has "maintained its dynamism" during this year's summer. This was celebrated this Wednesday by the sector lobby Exceltur, which highlighted the intense increase in business sales in the third quarter of the year across the entire value chain, at 4.1% in year-on-year terms. Despite the good pace of business, however, the cost environment has been unfavorable: according to the entity, price pressures have caused "the positive performance of revenues not to translate with the same intensity into the results of tourism companies".

Among the factors that have contributed most to this dysfunction is the growing price of energy, which has soared by 6.9%. Also weighing on the accounts of tourism companies have been the increase in interest rates, the rising cost of supplies (+6.2%), or the rise in labor costs, which Exceltur raises to nearly 5% "with absenteeism". The effects, it must be said, have fallen differently on the various sectors that make up the tourism value chain: while "those that suffer the most" from the increase in costs are transport companies – mainly due to the rising cost of fuel –, the employers' association assures that "the results of hotel companies are improving considerably".

Regarding this sectoral reality, the employers' association also foresees a "moderation" in activity for the last quarter of the year, with a decline in growth to 2.8%. Even so, it maintains the calculations for the year as a whole, which would raise the tourism gross domestic product (GDP) for all of 2026 by 2.7%, above the average of the Spanish economy. If this estimate is met, the tourism sector would contribute some 226.995 billion euros to the state's economy.

"Maximum political priority"

Given the new scenario, the State's tourism sector is asking to be at the center of the agenda of the Spanish government that emerges from the polls on November 29. Exceltur, in fact, places first on its list of demands that the next executive grant tourism "the maximum political priority it requires as the main sector and driver of the Spanish economy". In this sense, tourism entrepreneurs see the need for a "renewed strategic roadmap" to face "the most important challenges" affecting the visitor economy.

Among Exceltur's top priorities is investment in transport infrastructure, both in the airport sector and in high-speed rail and ports. They also put on the table "consolidating a legal framework" for tourist rentals, which they believe should be considered "an economic activity", with the corresponding taxes that should be imposed on them. For the entity, the regulation must also involve "digital platforms to avoid the commercialization of illegal supply" of this type of rental.

"Record" summer in Catalonia

In the Catalan case, this dynamism in tourism demand has been reflected in a summer season with "record figures for hotel travelers and spending," according to data presented this Tuesday by Pimec Turisme, the tourism sector of the Catalan association for small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the entity, Catalan hotels hosted 2.89 million travelers in August alone, 5.6% more than the previous year. For the season as a whole, the increase was 2.7%.

According to Pimec's data, spending has been even more expansive than the number of visitors, with a total expenditure of 9.765 billion euros by international tourists between June and August. This is an increase of 8.9% in absolute terms, according to the association, and 4.9% per visitor.

However, Pimec has detected a different trend regarding overnight stays: while during the summer of 2025 the average hotel stay for visitors to the Principality was 3.05 nights, this year the figure has been reduced to 2.98. In fact, despite the increase in the volume of hotel tourists, overnight stays grew by only 0.3% in the summer months, and if the focus is widened to all accommodation options, they record a drop of 1.6%.

According to the president of Pimec Turisme, Carlos Rabaneda, the figures confirm "a trend towards vacations spread out in shorter getaways." In this sense, the association for small and medium-sized enterprises sets as its goal to "increase the length of stay" of tourists, as well as the quality.

Demand, it must be said, has been driven by events such as the eclipse of August 12, which has contributed strongly to the revitalization of the sector in the Terres de l'Ebre, with an 8.7% year-on-year increase in hotel travelers. Nevertheless, Barcelona (+10.1%) and the Costa Daurada (+9.9%) have concentrated the largest part of the tourism expansion.