ARCHIVED - Murcia hotels expect a full house this Easter
Murcia, Cartagena and Lorca all expect to be much busier than Holy Week last year
Two weeks before one of the most celebrated occasions in Spain, hotels in Murcia, Cartagena and Lorca are already more than half full, with tourist bosses eagerly expecting to exceed last year’s Easter occupancy.“The forecasts are unbeatable,” according to the Tourism Minister, who added that visitors should pump around 50 million euros into the area’s hotels.
Over in La Manga, the budget Imserso trips for pensioners are up and running, which guarantees a great crowd from the outset.
The timing couldn’t be better for the tourism industry, since St Joseph’s Day fell on a Sunday this year and most communities opted not to count the Monday as a bank holiday. This means that Easter will be the first time since Three Kings in January that most people have been able to get away for a break.
The weather is also lending a hand, with temperatures of 30ºC or more forecast for Easter week.
Given these factors, “people really want to travel” this year, president of the associations of hotels in the Region and the city of Cartagena, Bartolomé Vera said.
“Next week is going to be critical,” he added, explaining that last-minute hotel bookings are largely dependent on the weather. All going well though, his forecast is that “in the three central days of Holy Week” occupation will be around 90-95% in the large cities of the Region.
Even though there were still some Covid restrictions in place, last April was the best for hotels in Murcia ever recorded, with Mazarrón reaching an incredible 98% occupancy and other tourist spots like Cartagena, Lorca, the Mar Menor, La Manga, Murcia and Águilas hovering between 89% and 94%.
The Ministry has estimated that the Holy Week parades and religious services generate around half a million overnight stays each year, with second home owners contributing a further 60 million euros to local economies.
“We are committed to increasing tourism in the Region of Murcia and in this strategy a key axis is to promote our Holy Week as a unique and inimitable tourist product,” the Minister said.
Image: Archive
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