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The new ObservaTUR Seasonal Report highlights the resilience of the tourism industry and points out that 2022 was the year of recovery.

The evaluation of the year just ended and the forecasts for 2023 are the focus of the new report prepared by the National Observatory of Outbound Tourism, ObservaTUR, which gathers both the testimonies expressed through a questionnaire by professionals from national agencies and the opinions of the committee of experts of this body promoted by Amadeus, AON, Beroni, Carrefour Viajes, IAG7/Airmet, Iberia, ILUNION Hotels, Mundiplan, ReiniziaT and the National Union of Travel Agencies (UNAV) with the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Tourism Professionals (AEPT), the Autonomous University of Madrid, through the Research Group on Urban Studies and Tourism (UrbyTur), and the consulting firm Task ONE.

With regard to 2022, the experts point out that it has been the year of recovery and renewal of the tourism and travel industry thanks to the reactivation of international travel due to the lifting of many of the restrictions imposed as a result of the covid pandemic, as well as the entrenchment of the travel culture combined with the desire to travel and recover normality, and the savings that accumulated during the health emergency.

In addition, the report indicates that during 2022 the sector demonstrated its resilience and achieved a recovery in almost all sections, although it was not total because areas such as MICE tourism have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.

Forecasts for 2022 are positive for most travel agency professionals. Half of those surveyed foresee a turnover above the pre-pandemic normal and “for the first time in a long time there are positive estimates for employment in this sub-sector”. The economic crisis and the increase in travel prices are the main reasons for concern, but despite these factors, “the business confidence index (…) reaches the highest values since the winter of 2018”.

The Observatory’s trustees also point out that 2023 will be a good year “if the situation remains more or less stable”. Thus, they point out that it could be the year of the consolidation of the full confidence of travellers and are confident that tourism and travel can act as a catalyst for the economy as a whole.

The primacy of national destinations, the recovery of MICE tourism and the rise of cultural, inland and sustainable tourism are some of the trends noted for this year, as can be seen in the ObservaTUR report. The study also highlights that the territories that have worked on sustainability plans and are capable of highlighting these actions will enjoy greater notoriety.