MADRID, Nov 24 — The number of nights booked by tourists in Spanish hotels fell 83 per cent in October compared with the same month a year ago as travel restrictions ravaged the tourism industry, data from the INE national statistics office showed today.
The October data was worse than the 78 per cent fall recorded in September after new measures were taken throughout the country to stop a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
Despite a slight uptick in activity after Spain emerged from a strict coronavirus lockdown in June, overall hotel bookings in the first ten months of the year have slumped 72 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier, INE said.
Tourism, which accounts for about 12 per cent of Spain’s economic output, has been devastated since the pandemic brought global travel to a grinding halt. — Reuters
