- Alicante hospitality businesses report summer losses
- Some businesses reported losses of up to 30 pc
- Losses occurred despite high occupancy
- Summer heatwave failed to reverse trend
- Businesses faced challenges despite strong visitor numbers
- Alicante restricts tourist flats as hotel sector adjusts
- Moratorium on new short-term rental licences implemented
- Higher-tier hotels largely excluded from restrictions
- Trend toward asset repositioning to premium categories
- Some businesses reported losses of up to 30pc over summer
Despite high occupancy some hospitality and retail businesses in Alicante reported losses of up to 30pc over the summer. The summer heatwave failed to reverse the trend for the hospitality sector. Businesses in the region faced challenges despite strong visitor numbers.
Alicante has enacted strict moratoria and restrictions on new short-term tourist flat licences shifting market demand toward traditional lodging. The Alicante City Council implemented a temporary ban on issuing new short-term rental licences for apartments in saturated areas. Local authorities introduced these caps to combat rising rental costs and address community concerns over overtourism. Higher-tier traditional lodgings such as three four and five-star hotels were largely excluded from these immediate restrictions.
Regulations have forced a re-evaluation of the tourism market encouraging visitors to use registered hotels and aparthotels. Spain’s national and regional rules now require strict digital registration numbers for any remaining short-term rentals. Under Alicante’s regulatory framework the local council is pushing heavily for higher-quality less dense tourism. The restrictions and caps placed on holiday accommodation favour premium categories with four-star and five-star hotels entirely exempt from the city’s saturation caps.
The trend among local hotel associations like HOSBEC has been focused on asset repositioning involving refurbishing existing lower-tier properties to upgrade them into four-star and premium establishments to attract higher-spending visitors. Despite high occupancy some hospitality and retail businesses in Alicante reported losses of up to 30pc over the summer.
