Hotel occupancy hits 97% in malaga

Malaga's Semana Santa procession in 2011 Photo: Marcp_Dmoz

Hotel occupancy in Malaga hit 97 per cent in Malaga this weekend, as Spain's commercial property sector enjoys an eggs-cellent start to 2015.

The Spanish city on the Costa del Sol is known for its procession in Holy Week, a tradition that broke visitor records in 2014, a year that saw the region enjoy its best tourism year since the financial crisis.

In 2015, though, the prospects appear even more positive, as visitor numbers jumped and hotel vacancies plummeted.

188,760 people stayed in the city over the Easter holiday, Mayor Francisco de La Torre revealed. Tourists spent an average of €93 per day, contributing €34m in revenue to the country's economy, 1.5 per cent higher than 2014.

"The initial few days of Holy Week are traditionally slow but this year saw 85 per cent occupancy from Palm Sunday to the following Wednesday, the highest levels seen for years," explains Property Showrooms.

A quarter of tourists were domestic, but the Brits lead the charge from other countries, which included a rising number of visitors from Germany and France. Indeed, the number of people arriving on cruise ships jumped 7.6 per cent, while enquiries to Malaga's tourist office surged by more than 20 per cent year-on-year.

The strength of Spain's tourism sector marks an optimistic start to the year. That upbeat forecast has stretched to investors and brands too, with Hilton recently returning to the Costa del Sol for the first time in years.

The hotel group has four hotels in other regions of the country, but a new deal with the owners of the Reserva de Higuerón hotel in Malaga's Benalmádena will bring the giant back to the area to produce what is being billed as the first health spa hotel in Europe.