Travel agencies are waiting for the culmination of the year to recover the levels of 2019.

The National Union of Travel Agencies (UNAV) is “reasonably optimistic” for the end of the year, since its president, José Luis Méndez, foresees that sales could be similar to those of pre-pandemic, or even higher, consolidating 2023 .as “the year of the sector’s recovery.”

“Our wish is that nothing alters these forecasts and that no incident occurs and that we can confirm all our reserve forecasts,” he told Europa Press.

On behalf of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV), its first vice president, José Manuel Lastra, has already highlighted an increase in reservations of between 15% and 20% compared to 2022 for the December long weekend, which represents a trend which invites “the culmination of a very good year for the sector”, still pending the definitive closure and the final push of the last hour.

Looking ahead to the end of 2023, UNAV points out that demand is concentrated above all, internationally, in destinations such as New York, Sydney, Dubai or Rio de Janeiro. Lapland and Japan are also enjoying a lot of interest. Without leaving our borders, already classic destinations such as Benidorm, Malaga, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands gain a lot of strength this Christmas period.

Once again, European Christmas markets become a travel tradition on these dates, and, according to CEAV, the most in-demand countries are once again those of Central Europe, with their typical markets in cities in Germany, Austria, Poland and Czech Republic.

Featured destinations at the end of the year

In the case of UNAV, the most requested destinations in recent weeks have been, for example, cities such as Budapest (which in 2022 was chosen as the best Christmas market in Europe), Salzburg (Switzerland), Tallinn (Estonia) and Innsbruck (Austria). . The markets in Berlin (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Colmar (France), Krakow (Poland), Basel (Switzerland) and Copenhagen (Denmark) have also had a lot of success this year.

Regarding the winter season, a report from ObservaTUR, in which the senior entity participates, indicates that the agencies expect a “good” season, since expectations remain “positive” in the case of short trips and it is expected an increase in all types of reservations, highlighting its increase in transportation and accommodation.