Comparing 1997 & 2007 - Supply & demand
for self-catering accommodation.
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Overview 1997 |
Overview 2007 |
There were approx. 400,000 properties available but the true figure can
never be determined due to lack of control by the Spanish authorities.
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There are now approx. 1,200,000 properties available for rental. |
Some property owners rented directly via magazines, such as Private
Villas, Holiday Villas and The Lady.
The annual cost of an advertisement in Private Villas was £600.00 + VAT
However, most rented through tour operators on a guaranteed rental
basis.
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Most property owners arrange rentals directly via an advertisement on
the Internet.
The average annual cost is £90.00 + VAT.
Tour operators and villa holiday companies no longer offer any form of
guarantee to owners. |
The
majority of self-catering holidays were organised by tour operators and
specialist companies such as Something Special, Beach Villas, European
Villas, Star Villas, Villa World etc.
These holiday companies marketed directly or via high-street travel
agencies (mostly owned by the tour operators themselves).
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Very few self-catering holidays are now provided by tour operators.
The majority are direct bookings with the owner and the holidaymaker
books flights and car-hire directly. |
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Most self-catering holidays were "packaged" (Accommodation, Flights and Hire-Car).
Flight companies were owned and operated or chartered by the tour
operators. |
Most flights are provided by low-fare airlines, booked directly by the
holidaymaker.
Charter airlines have either ceased to trade or converted to low-fare
airlines.
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Almost without exception all companies were bonded - ABTA, ATOL OR AIOTA.
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Very few holiday companies offer any bond at all. |
The
self-catering sector was thriving and growing. Villa with pool holidays,
in particular, were the luxury, more expensive packaged holiday option.
|
The
self-catering sector has deteriorated to the cheap, bottom-end of the
market and the emerging cruise and long-haul sectors now classed as
luxury. |
47.00 million tourists visited Spain (the majority from the UK).
A two-week holiday was the norm with the changeover day almost
exclusively on Saturday for the mainland.
|
An
estimated 59.00 tourists will visit Spain with the majority still from
UK.
7-day holidays are the most popular and holiday groups are smaller. |
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1997 - The demand per property |
Tourist Days
(Millions) |
| 47.000 million
visitors stayed an average of 12 days. 50% stayed in self-catering
accommodation. (47,000,000*12*50%) |
282.00 |
| On average 400,000 property
owners used the property for 28 days and occupied with 4 persons.
(400,000*28*4) |
- 44.80 |
| The total demand for rented
accommodation = |
237.20 |
| The total demand per
property, assuming capacity of 4 (237,200,000/400,000/4) |
148.25
= 21 weeks |
| These figures, although
purely hypothetical, give a true indication of the situation in 1997 -
i.e. 21 weeks per property! |
|
2007 - The demand per property |
Tourist Days
(Millions) |
| 59.000 million
visitors stayed an average of 8 days. 60% stayed in self-catering
accommodation. (59,000,000*8*60%) |
283.20 |
| On average 1,200,000
property owners used the property for 28 days and occupied with 4
persons. (1,200,000*28*4) |
- 134.40 |
| The total demand for rented
accommodation = |
148.80 |
| The total demand per
property, assuming capacity of 4 (148,800,000/1,200,000/4) |
30.83
= 4.40 weeks |
Without proper statistics
the situation cannot be reviewed with any accuracy. What is clear
is that there has been NO REAL INCREASE in Spanish tourism in 10 years,
meanwhile the supply of rental accommodation has INCREASED TO CRISIS
LEVEL.
1,200,000 properties is the estimated number available for rental. This
does not take into account the reported 3 - 4 million stated to be
unoccupied (mainly in Spanish cities). |
To get back to 1997 performance and fill 1,200,00
properties for 21 weeks, on exactly the same basis, would take 175 million
tourists annually This is equal to the combined tourist arrivals for France,
Spain and USA - World's Top 3 destinations.
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It should be clearly understood that
very little can be calculated with any degree of
accuracy except the yearly tourist figures (World
Tourism Organisation).
Consequently it is only "figure crunching" but does provide a broad outline
of the problem.I have managed
Villa Holiday Services for the past 20 years. For
villa-with-pool holidays in north Costa Blanca - |
In 1997 the average villa was rented for
an average of 24 weeks, some for as long as 35 weeks, and most owners were
paid a guarantee sum.
Most holidays were 2 weeks and changeover day was Saturday.
For 2007 we have half the properties, which we are expecting
to fill only for an average of 14 weeks.
We gave "Early Booking Discounts" at the beginning, offer "Last Moment
Bargains" at the end and made large villas available for small groups with
"Under-Occupancy Discounts".
All owners have non-guarantee contracts and can expect around 60% of the
1997 rental.
Few holidays are more than 7 days and changeover days are Saturday, Tuesday
and Thursday.
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