British tourism on the Costa Blanca yet to take off in order to top pre-Covid summer figures

200,000 fewer Britons are expected to holiday on the Costa Blanca this summer compared to 2019

Travel industry experts have predicted a bumper summer season on the Costa Blanca this year with high expectations of exceeding pre-pandemic tourism figures.

However, based on current data, British tourism is lagging and is unlikely to reach the dizzy heights of 2019.

Around two million Brits will pass through Alicante-Elche Airport this summer – at least that's the number of airline seats currently on offer from the UK – 9% fewer than four years ago prior to the Covid health crisis and travel restrictions.

Director of the Provincial Tourism Board, José Mancebo, assured this week that forecasts point to "the province breaking records and surpassing visitor figures of 2019", but in terms of British tourism, it would take 200,000 more visitors to match pre-pandemic UK figures.

The problem isn't a lack of British interest in holidaying on the Costa Blanca, according to Mancebo, but more to do with planning and flight capacity.

"The summer season was planned a year ago, which means that demand for mainland destinations was much more conservative than for island resorts. The demand is still there, but the market share was so high that it will take some time to recover it," he explained.

"We have managed to reduce the dreaded seasonality by extending the season. October, November and December will probably be very good too, as have been the first months of the year."

Read also: Widespread flash flooding hits Alicante province after torrential rain, with more storms to come

Basically, flight planning has been carried out differently, depending on the UK destinations.

While the number of seats offered from some cities has fallen, others have strengthened and increased their capacity.

Manchester has upped its seat offerings from 269,516 in 2019 to 306,071; while London-Gatwick falls from 342,160 to 274,513. Bristol has increased flights from 139,569 to 174,841; and London-Stansted from 140,994 to 165,627; Edinburgh up 78,387 to 83,013; Glasgow-Prestwick from 27,792 to 34,020; Bournemouth is up from 24,948 to 33,642; and London-Luton has risen from 119,136 seats in 2019 to 119. 505.

Meanwhile, East Midlands has dropped from 158,054 seats in 2019 to 138,915; Leeds from 121,963 to 124,931; Birmingham from 153711 to 119,885; Newcastle (136,744 to 107,352); Glasgow (down from 103,847 to 91,809); Liverpool ( 94,854 to 88,200; and Belfast (101,796 to 66. 456).

Despite the shortfall, the Costa Blanca hotel sector remains optimistic.

"The situation has changed, especially since after the long weekend of May 1," according to Alejandro Benito, head of communication of the hotel chain Servigroup, "and the movements over the past few weeks have been comparable for the first time to those before the pandemic".

These sentiments are echoed by Benidorm hotel employers Hosbec, which reported a recovery of the British market this spring.

"Not only is it recovering the ground we thought it had lost, but the British market is growing in market share to over 50% in Benidorm."

Other news: Air Nostrum to connect Malaga and Valencia with Nice airport this summer

Image: Archive