After the total collapse due to the pandemic, the large tourism industry has once again managed to regroup itself, consolidate the full recovery after the fiasco and shatter all records achieved in the already distant pre-covid period of 2019. The records of the past have diminished and tourism has soared to new historic heights.
Record economic activity, Record employment, record number of international tourists, record income… New signs that could not have been imagined in the previous boom years, before the restrictions on movement and restrictions due to the health crisis and without signs of urgent implementation of brakes.
Tourism GDP rose to its historical maximum of approximately 186.6 billion euros last year; This increased its contribution to the entire national GDP to 12.8% of the total, a very strong increase of 18.6% compared to pre-covid 2019. The entire series of statistics according to the estimate of the lobby Exceltur, which brings together the thirty largest tourism companies of our country (including Meliá, NH, Iberia, Globalia, Riu and Amadeus).
Tourism is preparing for a new year after a historic year that completed the post-pandemic revival process. The forecasts of the same cooperation predict that the sector’s injection into GDP will exceed the level of 200,000 million euros (specifically 202,651 million) in 2024 for the first time in its history and will increase by 8.6% compared to 2024. It reached a new peak of 13.4% of national GDP last year.
Tourism has already done this in the midst of the financial crisis. At that time, it was the economic pillar of the entire country. The sector emerged from the recession ahead of others, after a single year in 2012, and now once again lays claim to being a major driver of the national economy. It accounted for more than 70% of the growth in the economy as a whole last year (with an expected 2.4% increase in GDP) and will be responsible for more than 40% of the growth expected this year, according to the association. large tourism groups.
The massive growth in this sector has a direct impact on employment. More and better jobsby companies. Last year, 95,224 new jobs were created in the sector, accounting for 17% of all employment created in the wider economy, with a new maximum being reached in July, in the middle of the high summer season. More than 2.8 million people are dependent on Social Security in different branches of tourism activity.
Tourism companies now boast of creating quality employment. Following labor reform, temporary employment in the sector has fallen to historic lows (almost 35% in 2019 compared with only 8% of temporary contracts last year and 13.7% in the remaining economic sectors last year) and permanent contracts have become widespread, accounting for 91% of the total. (of which only a quarter are permanent, discontinuous contracts). Moreover, in the context of difficulties in attracting and retaining staff, salaries are rising again, with an increase of 4.4% compared to the previous year and increases of 3.9% in contracts in 2023, in both cases an increase above other sectors.
‘Explosion’ in arrivals and income
It is not the data that best reflects the development of the sector, but it is the data that measures the general strength of demand. Tourism professionals deny international tourist arrival records and are more concerned with revenue growth (more or fewer tourists arriving). However, new peaks will be set in both records. The government had already predicted that Spain would exceed 84 million international travelers last year, the highest figure in history, above the 83.7 million arrivals reached in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
The influx of foreign tourists and the increase in prices will allow us to break a new record in the million-dollar injection they provide into the Spanish economy. The country’s tourism revenue will topple pre-pandemic levels balance of payments Prepared by the Bank of Spain New historical maximum at 83,000 million euros According to Exceltur’s estimate, this year is 17% higher than the previous record of 2019.
In the middle of the boom, the message begins to spread that these growth rates are not sustainable, the debate begins about whether this enthusiasm is even desirable due to the social rejection created by massification, and the fear of dying and becoming successful ends. It spreads tourism phobia. These will be important issues in the new edition of Fitur, which accompanies the development of the sector and is preparing to break its own records by returning to pre-pandemic levels with 9,000 participating companies, 152 represented and more than 800 participants. and it is estimated to host 250,000 visitors, including professionals and the public.