Costa del Sol gears up to receive first avalanche of tourists for peak summer season with an extra 60,000 beds on offer

Holidaymakers' suitcases are packed and the Costa del Sol is ready to receive the first avalanche of tourists for the peak summer season. The most important period of the year for the tourism industry in Malaga province has begun, although for the last couple of years July and August have shown more signs of holding steady, leaving greater growth for the months prior to and after the two peak months, thus extending what has been the traditional, shorter peak season. For this year, the general feeling is that this trend will continue despite the fact that the area has 60,000 more accommodation places than last year, most of them in rental properties. Still, this portion of the sector in the province is currently forecasting a lower occupancy rate than last year for July, despite the fact that the average rental rate is 1.4% lower, according to data from Avva-Pro association for rental accommodation in the Andalucía region. Malaga city itself is spared from this situation with prices 9.3% higher and bookings on the rise, predicting a 7.1% increase in the number of occupied places, to almost 60%.

At Malaga's AVE high-speed train station, at the airport and on the roads, an intense holidaymaker arrival operation can be seen, although tourism industry experts warn that July is beginning with some uncertainty and with a slower than normal rate of bookings. The aim of hoteliers and travel agencies is to repeat last year's results in the face of international instability taking its toll on the market, fears that the conflict with Iran will raise its head again, that Donald Trump's decisions will have a direct impact on people's pockets or that the unusually high temperatures being recorded in key markets for the Costa del Sol such as the United Kingdom or Germany will cause many potential tourists to opt for a 'staycation' in their home country. This is on top of their concerns that such instability nearly always causes the most cautious to go into savings mode.

Despite all this and confirming Avva-Pro's data that "there is a certain slowdown in sales", the president of Spain's association for travel agencies, Sergio García, is confident that "Malaga province will once again be the safe option for those changing their holiday plans in search of security guarantees."

As for Javier Hernández, vice president of Aehcos association of hotel business owners on the Costa del Sol, he says that "there is uncertainty in bookings for July and August", adding that "June closed with figures similar to those of the previous year, that is, a good performance with occupancy rates above 87%." Regarding these uncertainties that loom ahead of the busiest months of the year, he suggests that there are "several causes", noting among them that "there is a heatwave in central Europe, the United Kingdom and Germany and that is not encouraging travel."

Hernández has scheduled the start of this week to release the results of the survey conducted among member hotels to determine expected occupancy. In the meantime, they refer to the report released in May, which indicated that 80% of rooms would be occupied in July, compared to 86.66% recorded in July 2024.

It is worth remembering that the study done by Turismo Costa del Sol, based on data from Spain's INE national statistics institute, put the number of overnight stays recorded in July last year at 2.5 million, which already showed a 2.4% drop in nights booked as a result of the 10% drop in demand from Spanish tourists that could not be compensated for with the 1.5% increase in international travellers.

AVVA-Pro's president, Juan Cubo, said that "in Malaga province as a whole, the data also shows the maturity of the sector, although with a slight downward correction with respect to the 2024 numbers." He noted that, as of 27 June, the average daily rate stood at 284 euros compared to 288 euros same time last year, a 1.4% decrease. Occupancy also fell to 53.9%, compared to 55.6% in July of last year, and RevPar (revenue per available room), which measures the profitability of the business, fell to 119 euros, compared to 128 euros the previous year, so 6.4% less. He also mentions a slight decrease in the average length of stay, from 7.3 nights in 2024 to 6.9 nights.