Last-Second Workcations Boosting Battered European Tourism Industry

Portions of Europe are experiencing a tourism resurgence as remote workers look to take advantage of the time they have remaining away from the office.

According to Reuters.com, the lifting of COVID-related travel restrictions and cheaper prices have led to a boom for the starved tourism industry in Spain and Portugal’s most popular vacation destinations.

While the influx of travelers taking workcations has brought relief to the tourism-reliant islands, Spain reported the number of international arrivals for the first half of 2021 was still around 33 percent of the 10 million visitors recorded during the same period in 2019.

“We have certainly seen a growth in the ‘Digital Nomads’ category, (which) has been important to the tourism sector during the pandemic since it contributed to long-term stays and local economies,” the European Union’s head of research for tourism Jennifer Iduh told Reuters.

Airlines and rental websites are also reporting a spike in bookings, with flights to the Canary Islands up 88 percent between April and July when compared to the same period in 2020. Bookings for Tenerife doubled, according to low-cost carrier Ryanair.

Property portal Idealista said rental requests for over 15 days in the Canary, Balearic and Madeira islands grew 51 percent last summer, with the trend continuing into 2021. Tourism officials said an estimated 8,000 remote workers have arrived so far this year and an additional 30,000 remote workers are expected to arrive over the next five years.

To entice international travelers looking to squeeze in one last workcation, airlines, hotel chains and rental companies are offering discounted package deals to people looking to stay in Europe for several weeks.

Last week, the United Kingdom’s transport minister announced that fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union and United States would be allowed to skip COVID-related quarantine when visiting England.