Spain’s tourism industry is showing considerable strength despite the difficult economic conditions in Europe according to the latest findings.
Spain welcomed over 32 million visitors in the first 7 months of this year, representing impressive tourism growth of 7.4% compared with the same period last year. Often overlooked, Spain still commands one of the world’s largest and most important tourism industries as the 4th most visited nation in the world, appealing to Northern Europeans in particular.
The FRONTUR survey which records the movements of tourists at the boarder found that 23% of all Spain’s visitors during the first 7 months of this year were British with Germany contributing 18% of all tourists. France and the Scandinavian nations followed as major contributors. More notably, visitors from the USA increased by over 15%!
Further research into Spain’s tourism industry found that the majority of travellers are using budget carriers as their primary source of transport. Low cost airlines carried 20.7 million of Spain’s passengers during the first 7 months of the year.
According to Cinco Dias, the busiest budget airlines in Spain remain Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin who together transported 54.1% of passengers using low cost airlines in July. July was a particularly good month for Spain’s tourism levels on the whole, welcoming 7.5 million visitors in that month alone.
Visitors to Spain spent almost 10 percent more in July than in the same month a year ago, kindling hopes that strong growth in the tourist trade can breathe life into an economy hovering close to stagnation.
Tourist spending was 6.9 billion euros in July, up 9.6 percent year on year, Industry Ministry data showed on Tuesday.
The average daily expenditure, which was 100 euros between January and July last, was up 4.1% over the same period in 2010, and spending per tourist increased by 1.2% to 916 euros.
In July alone, the spending of foreign tourists was 6.942 million euros, representing an increase of 9.6% compared to the same month in 2010 and is also higher than figures achieved in both 2008 (6.106 million) as in 2007 (6.587 million), the best July in history so far.
The UK was the biggest spender source market during the first seven months, with 5760 million euros (19.5% of the total received in Spain), representing an improvement of 2.2%, but had a fall 6.3% in average spending per person.
This news is significant considering the low growth rates for many of the world’s major tourism industries. Spain continues to prove its credentials during difficult times which property investors will be sure not to overlook. With property prices at an all time low and tourism levels on the rise, Spain’s coastal property is a lucrative opportunity for savvy investors.
