Despite positive forecasts, this summer country tourism in Asturias is showing clear signs of flagging. According to professionals working in the sector, figures have not been so bad since 1987. On the contrary, the region’s hotels, especially those of Oviedo and Gijon, are fuller than last summer.
Nevertheless, tourist spending on the whole is lower than in previous years and there are fewer foreigners, according to the regional newspaper La Nueva España.
Country tourism figures were down this summer in Asturias for the first time in the last decade. Professionals working in the sector cannot remember an August with such a low occupancy rate. In recent years, the region’s country hotels and accommodation have always been full in August, which sadly is not the case this year.
What is most surprising in this new and unexpected situation is that the figures for Llanes and Eastern Asturias in general, an area that has traditionally been the driving force behind tourism in the Principality, have been particularly bad in August. The fact is that country tourism, the flagship of Asturias’ tourist industry, is beginning to lose steam. This is in contrast with the situation in the hotel sector, which is not only maintaining occupancy rates but is also salvaging results in central Asturias – particularly in Oviedo and Gijon – where it is the only sub-sector registering growth.
