Hotels and apartments in Lanzarote stopped earning almost 60 million euros last July compared to the same period last year. Specifically, then they invoiced more than 67 million euros, while last month the figure was just over 8 million, with a drop of 88%, according to data from the ISTAC's "Survey of Tourist Accommodation", collected by the Cabildo Data Center.
To this must be added the losses of the previous months, most of them of total closure. In the case of April, in full confinement, the income was zero euros, while in May it stood at 30,185 euros and in June at 63,611, compared to the more than 56, 46 and 50 million that had been invoiced, respectively, in the same months of 2019.
As for March, the invoicing until the state of alarm was decreed in the middle of the month had amounted to just over 32 million euros, far from the almost 62 million euros collected the previous year, coinciding with Easter. Thus, only hotels and apartments in Lanzarote have stopped earning more than 241 million euros since the beginning of the pandemic.
Regarding the number of tourists, in July the figures did not even approach those of previous years, despite the reopening that began at the end of June. In total, last month 42,172 travelers stayed on the island, compared to 283,674 in July 2019. In addition, the average stay was also reduced, falling from 8.36 days to 5.85.
Similarly, the few establishments that reopened their doors in July did so by lowering rates. Specifically, the average rate per night in hotels was 89.21 euros, compared to 107.47 the previous year, and in extra-hotel accommodation it was reduced from 66.52 euros per day to 50.78.
The latter earned 1.5 million euros last month, with a drop of 91% compared to the 17.4 million that were invoiced in July 2019; while hotels went from 49.5 million a year ago to 6.7 last July.
As for the establishments that decided to open their doors in Lanzarote, until July there were only 90, compared to the 261 that were open in the same month of the previous year. Specifically, 32 hotels opened (in July 2019 there were 76 open) and 58 extra-hotel accommodations (the previous year there were 185). This resulted in a reduction of 59% of the places offered, going from 71,806 to 29,350, since the majority chose to maintain the closure.
Many of them planned to join the reopening in August, although several finally ruled it out after the United Kingdom advised against traveling to Spain, including the Canary Islands, and imposed a quarantine on tourists who returned after being in this country.
These figures have also caused a strong impact on employment, since a year ago there were 10,656 people working in hotels and extra-hotel establishments on the island, and last month only 3,521, with a drop of 67%.