After a year marked by restrictions and pandemic, the preferences of Spanish travelers when traveling in 2021 are conditioned by safety and anti-covid measures. In this way, among the motivations to travel of Spaniards, price is a priority for 13% of travelers, compared to factors related to travel safety.

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How will Spaniards travel in 2021?

What is it that will make them choose one destination over another? How much time will they spend traveling this year?

Minube and Segittur have given us the answers to these and other questions about the motivations and preferences of Spanish travelers. Some of the conclusions from their survey, which was carried out to more than 1,700 travelers that is included in the white paper “The new traveler: how the Tourism sector prepares its future”, a basic guide to understanding the new ‘Way of travel’ after the pandemic, in which companies, institutions and professionals in the sector from several countries have participated.

The white paper by minube and Segittur has been structured in eight large blocks that approach traveler´s experience, their motivations and marketing to attract them from different channels; smart destinations and the keys to face the change from digitalization, innovation and sustainability, as well as trends of the new mobility and the experience of post-COVID travelers in countries such as France, United Kingdom and Norway.

According to the report, most of Spanish travelers will opt for non-overcrowded destinations (48%), while safety and anti-covid measures are the compelling reasons to travel for 22% of Spaniards.

It should be also emphasized that this year, 17% of Spanish travelers have indicated as important, among their motivations to travel, that the destination is sustainable and responsible, as can be seen in the attached infographic.

What the pandemic has not changed is the preference in terms of dates, since 70% of Spaniards will choose to travel between June and August and, in large part (73%), to Spanish destinations. Among those who have chosen Spain to enjoy their holidays, 43% have opted for a well-known destination, compared to 30% who want to discover another place. Only 18% of Spanish travelers plan to travel in Europe, while 9% will opt for an extra-Community destination.

How are they going to move?

Considering that the favorite option for trips this year is to stay in Spain, logically most travelers will opt for their own car (57%), while 33% will travel by plane to their next destination. Public transport by land, such as train (5%) or bus (2%) is in the minority. It highlights a 3% of travelers who will choose a shared car.

As for the destinations chosen, trips are divided almost in the same proportion between the classic “sun and beach”, an option that will be chosen by 35% of travelers, while rural destinations will be the option of 31%.

According to the report by minube and Segittur,13% of Spanish travelers will choose an urban tourism destination; the same percentage of those who will take advantage of their trips for social gatherings with family and friends. Trips with the objective being sports or adventure activities, will only be the option chosen by 8% of travelers.

14% do not plan to travel this year

The conclusions of the report contained in the white paper “The new traveler: how the Tourism sector prepares its future” also indicate that this year Spanish travelers will reduce their pace of travel, and 14% do not plan to travel this year (compared to 11% in 2019). The reasons for the latter: 68.62% will not do so for ethical reasons, while 12.55% allege economic reasons.

Most significantly, 47% of those who made 2 trips in 2019 plan to reduce it to 1 in 2021, and only 30.94% of them will travel twice. Almost 52.17% of those who made one trip in 2019 this year will repeat, and even 25% plan to make two or more.

… and getaways on a tighter budget

The report also details that, according to forecasts, 42% of Spaniards will opt for relatively short trips – trips of a week or less time – while 38% consider between one and two weeks.  Only 11% expand it to 3 weeks, while 5% would opt for between 3 to 4 weeks. Even so, 4% consider a getaway of more than a month.

As for the budget, 70% of travelers do not expect to spend more than € 1,000 per person. It highlights that 33% consider that less than 500 euros per person will be spent. Low-cost budgets are a prominent trend. 20% raises it to between € 1,000 and € 2,000, for a 10% that estimates that it will be above € 2,000.

Regarding accommodation, most of Spanish travelers (60%) are inclined to book a hotel accommodation -whether it is a hotel, hostel, rural hotel or resort- and 20% will choose the rental of an apartment, house or villa. This year 16% of travelers will stay in a house or apartment they own, while 4% will opt for camping or motorhome.

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Miriam González

PR Team