Chinese tourists and their big wallets still missed in Europe this summer despite European travellers boosting local tourism
- Greece saw tourist numbers bounce back but ‘they didn’t buy that much’, said the owner of several souvenir shops, lamenting the loss of Chinese and Americans
- In Spain, establishments in Catalonia recorded an occupancy rate close to 95 per cent in August
European travellers helped plug a gap left by Asian and North American tourists stuck at home by the pandemic, staving off a total washout this year for Europe’s hospitality industry. After a disastrous 2020 tourism season, the sector had banked on vaccination campaigns and the easing of travel restrictions to see brighter days this summer.
While European visitors might have shored up numbers, the recovery was patchy, with tourists spending in different places, on different things – and not with the same largesse as the big-spending Chinese or Americans.
Fears over suddenly changing Covid-19 travel restrictions and – for the UK, especially – the cost of mandatory Covid-19 tests have also driven the disruption to travel patterns this summer.
Tourism-dependent Greece hosted more than 2 million visitors in July and August – “something we haven’t seen since 2019”, said Haris Theocharis, the tourism minister until a cabinet reshuffle in late August.
Napolean, the owner of a bar in Athens’ Plaka tourist hotspot, said he had exceeded his targets “by more than 50 per cent” this summer. But at the nearby Byron Hotel, co-manager Zimi Mistiopoulos said they only had 10 days of full occupancy. Two years ago, there wasn’t a room to be had all season, he said.