“This is the last time we compare Spain’s tourism figures with those of 2019. After that we will have to compare them with those of 2023. A record year,” he said. Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi HereuThis confirms that last year the industry surpassed all records achieved before the pandemic. “It’s pleasing that this is our last mention of 2019.”
Spain confirmed that 2023 will be a historic year for tourism, breaking records in terms of foreign tourists and, more importantly, their spending. Hereu estimated that last year foreign tourist arrivals reached a new historical maximum, with more than 84 million tourists (1% more than the previous pre-pandemic record), and their spending rose to a record level of 108 billion euros. (17.4% more than pre-covid in 2019).
The government sees no signs that tourism will start to slow down and assumes figures will continue to rise this year and 2024 will be a new record year, but it does not currently have any concrete forecasts for tourism. whole country. exercise. The administrator holds these for the first four months of the year (to make the records of both years comparable due to the different month in which Holy Week is celebrated) and predicts a strong increase in tourist arrivals to reach 23.2 million. 10.8% compared to last year and spending over 30.4 billion is 18% more.
“There are expectations that growth will continue this year as well. ANDIt is obvious that there will be an increase in the number of tourists and expenditures. “Everything shows that 2024 will be another record year unless there is an important external phenomenon,” said Hereu, emphasizing that the economic impact of tourists on the country is much more important than the number of visitors. “Let’s not sanctify the number of tourists, let’s not focus on the war on the number of tourists.”
In the midst of the boom, voices are emerging from the tourism industry itself, warning that the growth rates achieved are not sustainable and that discussion needs to be initiated on how to manage periods of saturation that are causing social rejection in some destinations. The manager emphasizes the need to “manage tourism” to avoid “coexistence problems” with the resident population, but relativizes the seriousness of the situation: “I am quite happy that I have to manage the difficulties and problems of success, without this success,” concluded Hereu.
The government advocates extending seasons beyond summer as a way to reduce overcrowding in some areas and prevent tourism phobia, as well as progress in deseasonalizing activity; Diversifying destinations regionally by promoting tourism products in the interior of Spain beyond ‘sun and sand’; and to attract tourists with greater spending capacity attracted by products with greater added value, especially travelers from other continents, not only from Europe, thus increasing revenue growth for the sector and the country, not so much in visitor arrivals.
Source: Informacion
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