The countdown is on!
This year hasn’t quite gone to plan in terms of holidays but hopefully your 2021 calendar shouldn’t be as bare when it comes to travel plans. Your dreams of a sunny stay in Spain may come true as a new travel initiative could soon see tourists welcomed back to Spain, minus travel restrictions.
The country currently remains off the UK travel corridor, meaning arrivals need to self-isolate on entry to the UK – with the exception of the Canary Islands which don’t require mandatory quarantine. However, entry to Spain and its islands requires all travellers to present a negative Covid-19 test no more than 72 hours before arrival.
In a bid to boost visitor numbers after the devastating effect of travel restrictions during the pandemic, Spanish tourism authorities have now launched a huge drive to lure us wanderlusters back to the country – and to reassure travellers it’s safe to visit.
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The Travel Safe campaign, which has cost around €2million, is aiming to encourage visitors back to the popular holiday destination and welcoming the first visitors to Spain without restrictions by the end of March, with the Balearic Islands expected to be the first to welcome restriction-free travel. The perfect time as the country gradually starts to get warmer and sunnier, with average temperatures in Majorca being around 18 degrees Celsius.
Travel Safe will be a dedicated section – updated daily – on the spain.info website containing measures from individual regions, including restaurant capacities and leisure deals. The Turespaña strategy – a huge marketing push aimed at increasing tourism – will continue while coronavirus restrictions remain. It has already been welcomed by various popular tourist destinations, including the Balearic Islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca.
Balearic tourism minister, Iago Negueruela told local media: “First of all, however, there is the task of positioning, selling and explaining to the world that the islands are a safe destination.”
Spain and its islands are the most popular holiday destination for those living in the UK, but 2020 was the worst-ever year for tourism in the Balearic Islands with just 1.67 million tourists visiting. It saw a dramatic drop of 87.4 % between January and October, compared to the same period in 2019 when over 18 million tourists jetted off to the country’s resorts.
As well as a greater possibility of Spain having more visitors next year (and us hopefully getting to escape the four walls that we have seen for the past eight months or so), the country has also seen a boom in hotel investment, in anticipation for when confidence in international travel returns.