Alicante tourism reaches post-pandemic high in July
Hotel occupancy climbed to 88.6% as international visitors continued to dominate the province's summer season
Alicante's summer season is proving to be a strong one, with hotels and tourist accommodation across the province recording their best July occupancy figure since the pandemic.Occupancy reached 88.6% in July, according to the latest figures from APHA, 1.6 percentage points higher than in July 2025. It was also 2.6 points above June and only slightly below the 89.6% recorded in 2019.
The result is particularly notable given how much Alicante's tourism economy has been growing. Back in April, foreign tourism spending in the province passed €1 billion in a single month for the first time.
The latest figures also give a good idea of where visitors were heading during July. Playa de San Juan recorded the highest occupancy at 95.8%, followed by Alicante city at 93.6%.
Finestrat reached 92%, while Xàbia was at 91.3%, Santa Pola at 91% and Moraira at 90.9%. El Campello recorded 88.5%, while Dénia reached 82.9% and Guardamar del Segura 81%.
There was a much wider variation elsewhere. Occupancy stood at 70% in San Vicente del Raspeig, 58.1% in Orihuela, 55.4% in Vall de Laguar and 49.9% in Vila Joiosa.
For British residents and businesses across the province, another familiar feature of Alicante's tourism market is clear in the figures. International visitors accounted for 63.6% of all travellers staying in the accommodation covered by the report, with the UK by far the largest foreign market at 25.5%.
Ireland followed at 6.7%, ahead of Norway, France and Germany. Spanish visitors accounted for the remaining 36.4%, with Madrid and the Valencian Community providing the largest domestic markets.
The strong summer figures follow an already positive start to the year for Alicante's tourism sector. Foreign visitors generated €1.882 billion in tourism spending during the first quarter, underlining the importance of international tourism to the province.
Looking ahead, the forecast for August is for occupancy of 88.6%. That's slightly below August 2025, but still points to a steady level of demand as Alicante moves through the heart of the summer season.
APHA represents 135 hotels and tourist accommodation businesses across the province, giving it a broad view of how the local tourism market is performing.
Image: Marian Florinel Condruz/Pexels
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