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The number of foreign tourists visiting
Spain rose 3.4% in 2004 to a
record 53.6 million, Spain's Secretary of State for Commerce and Tourism,
Pedro Meja Gomez, announced to the media, confirming the industry was
resisting increasing competition from eastern Europe. The number of arrivals
in December was 3.1 million, an increase of 12.9% over the same month a year
earlier, Gomez added. That helped make up for a slight decline in the peak
month of August.
The tourism industry accounts for between 11-12% of the Spanish economy,
split equally between foreign tourists and Spaniards holidaying at home.
Spain is the world's second tourism destination after
France – but first out of
Europe – and its main markets are the UK and Germany.
There are nonetheless growing concerns in the industry that destinations
such as Bulgaria and Croatia, which enjoy similar sunshine to Spain but have
lower labour costs, will lure holidaymakers away. British tourist numbers
rose 2.9% in 2004 to 16.4 million (nearly 31% of total arrivals), while the
number of Germans climbed 2.7% to 10 million, having dropped 3% in 2003 – a
slowdown that hurt the
Balearic Islands in particular.
The Balearics, which are recovering thanks to the first rise in the
German market for four years, are the third most popular region for foreign
tourists to Spain, behind
Catalonia and the
Canary Islands.
Revenues earned from foreign tourism edged up 0.4% in the first ten
months of the year, despite signs of tourists reducing their length of stay.
But Spaniards spent more abroad so the tourism balance to end October fell
4.2%.
More and more tourists are making their own holiday arrangements and
travelling to Spain independently – ie not on package tours. Just over 57%
were independent travellers in 2004, up from 50% three years earlier. As a
result, no-frills airlines have increased their share of the travel market –
to an estimated 28.5% in 2004.
Gomez said that government and regional tourism initiatives this year
will focus on improving quality in the more run down parts of the coast, and
in trying to persuade visitors to stay longer by publicising Spain's sport,
healthcare and cultural potential.
The country is nonetheless not overlooking the important sun and beach
sector. A major new promotional campaign, Smile – You are in Spain, has
already attracted lots of attention in key source markets because of its
originality. |
