Budget Airlines - Do They Deliver Budget Tourists?

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Quite a furore was caused earlier in the year when a leading Spanish tourism official critcised the budget airlines operating across Europe that fly to the country and her islands, as he believed the low fares they were paying led to tourists who weren't going to spend the savings they had made on their flights while on their holiday, but were going to spend the duration of their time trying to get equally cheap accommodation, food and drink.

Although he later retracted the comments it does pose the question as to whether his initial observation was right - that cheap airfares lead to low spending holidaymakers, who bring little economic benefit to the country - in this case Spain - during their time there.

Some people, including those in the tourist industry, believe he was right, while others think he was wrong.

Typically those defending his initial comments state the case that those who fly on low cost airlines are the ones who will visit the attractions locally that are free - museums and cathedrals are examples where entry is free or ask for a voluntary donation. But then it could be argued for example on islands like Tenerife and Lanzarote the beaches are free, and the good weather in Tenerife costs the same for everyone - nothing.

Another argument put forward by those who consider budget airlines to be delivering a low class tourist is that it encourages the unregulated accommodation sector, as the tourists are more likely to find cheap apartments or b&b type establishments that are available on the internet privately but are off the radar with the authorities as official accommodation, which as well as paying taxes do have to meet certain standards - and importantly be insured and have fire risk inspections.

And for those hotels that are regulated these tourists expect to be able to book 4 and 5 star hotels at 1 and 2 star prices, and are the first to complain when they don't think the standards are up to their expectations - with low cost flights hotels feel the pressure to drop their prices to cater for the lower spending arrivals - or so the argument against low cost airlines go. The counter argument would be of course that if the hotels are dropping their prices it benefits everyone.

Not so according to some who don't like the cheap flights - all that happens is that the hotels have to replace local labour with cheaper labour from eastern Europe to be able to still make a profit.

And as for the Spanish tourism official who made the initial comment about the kind of passenger the budget airlines carry, his defenders will see that as part of his job, and wanting what he perceives as quality - that is higher spending - tourists is one to be applauded as it maintains a standard of excellence which the higher end of the market is looking for.

Balanced against that are those who consider the budget airlines to be good for tourism - not least because low airfares means quite simply that more people can go on holiday, and overall the more tourists there are the more the local economy will benefit. Some surveys however have shown that while the number of flights being taken annually has grown significantly over the last decade, it's because those who were going on holiday anyway started taking two or three a year, rather than it being an enabler that allowed those on lower incomes to start taking an overseas holiday.

The biggest flaw in the debate from those who don't like the low cost carriers is that they only fly passengers with little money to spend once they reach their destination. Take a flight to Nice on easyJet and your fellow passengers can very well be yacht and villa owners along with some who have residency in Monaco. And it's a similar story with Barcelona as some of the passengers are on their way home to tax haven Andorra.

And the reason those with money use the low cost airlines? Either they got wealthy by being careful with their money, or more likely the case is that they are offered an efficient service with flight times that fit in with their schedule. And when you look at easyJet's timetable for example for flights to Lanzarote, Tenerife, Nice, Barcelona and Malaga from the London airports they offer several flights a day, with one bound to suit someone travelling, and they often have more departure slots than their 'full service' competitors.

Ultimately low cost airlines will bring in a mix of tourists, but they will bring in more, and destinations need to adapt to the changing landscape to benefit.

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