Tourism predicts a historic summer and expects a surge of travelers to Spain amid the war

Meliá anticipates double‑digit sales growth

Meliá, the leading Spanish hotel group by number of rooms, has not been affected by the conflict in the Middle East. In mid‑February, just days before the United States and Israel bombed Iran, the company forecast a double‑digit increase in bookings for the summer; that estimate remains unchanged, although the reasons are now different. Earlier in the year it expected a recovery from its major source markets, but today the main driver is the diversion of travelers who had planned to go to the Middle East or nearby countries such as Egypt or Turkey and will now choose Spain instead.

“This behavior is due, in part, to Spain, Southern Europe and the Caribbean being refuge destinations for key source markets in the face of instability in the Middle East,” emphasized Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Meliá, during the company’s General Shareholders’ Meeting.

Nevertheless, the executive stressed that the hotel chain’s strategy relies on “resilience and internal efficiency to avoid depending on this mirage caused by international instability.” Exceltur, the tourism lobby that Escarrer chaired until March, recently projected that the influx of travelers to Spain—especially from the United Kingdom and Germany—will inject an additional €4.2 billion into the tourism sector this year.