Andalucía faces the challenge of welcoming more than 37 million tourists in 2025

Juanma Moreno, president of the Junta de Andalucía, celebrated the historic 2024 performance of the region's tourism efforts at the opening of the International Tourism Fair (Fiture) in Madrid this week. Closing the successful 2024 chapter, the regional president also added that forecasts expect continued growth in revenue, visitors, and stable employment in 2025. With that, Andalucía prepares for the arrival of 37 million tourists this year.

During the fair's opening, which took place on Wednesday 22 January, Andalucía welcomed visitors to its stand with a white flag, smoke and a message that warned of the spell of its charms. After the event, Moreno highlighted last year's record number of visitors (36.2 million), which was an increase of 5.5%, and its contribution to a revenue of 30 billion euros, up 13.3%. Now, the forecast predicts an even higher number of 37 million tourists in 2025.  These figures, Moreno said, show that the strategy of growing in quality rather than quantity is working. He stated that "revenue grew twice as much as the number of visitors" - "a clearly positive figure". Moreno further explained that the average tourist "spent around 82 euros a day, 5.5% more than in 2023 and 23% more than in 2019". The past year also offered 400,000 jobs to its residents, Moreno said, which also made the best year in terms of employment.

Upon assessing the presentation of Andalucía at Fitur, the regional president stated that "We have turned the fair into what it should be, a business exchange centre and a key space to position Andalucía as a preferred destination that has managed to diversify and break seasonality." Moreno stated that 2024 has been key in recovering and surpassing the pre-pandemic level in international tourist arrivals, exceeding the 2019 figures by half a million, with 13 million foreign and 23.1 million local tourists. He also added that seasonality has been reduced to the maximum compared to previous years, with a rate of 33%, achieving also a greater distribution of visitor flows throughout the territory. Jaén, in particular, was the province that gained the most tourists last year, with an increase of 14%.

"These figures are not the result of chance. It is time to make transitions to improve and to generate more wealth and quality employment. They are the result of intelligent promotion in search of the tourist we are most interested in: the one who spends the most and who travels outside the high season. A tourist who strengthens an industry that is more sustainable, more technological and better distributed over time and territory," he said.

To support this, Moreno stated that the number of visitors during the high season grew by 4%, compared to an even greater increase of 10% between January and March. He also highlighted the fact that the region has managed to maintain an average growth rate of 50% in markets such as the United States, the Netherlands and Italy. This growth rate was possible thanks to the improved connections of the six airports in the region, which registered 10% more in flights.

The president of the Junta also announced the agenda for 2025, stating that "we continue to make good progress. We have to prepare for a good year in which we expect more than 37 million holidaymakers. The objective is the quality of those who visit us and the benefits they bring." Moreno also stated the need to commit to sustainability and regenerative tourism, which transfers the benefits of its stays to society and encourages coexistence with the residents. To make this possible, the Junta's president has put in force a code of ethics for tourism and prepared 40 million euros to aid the rational use of energy and water, as well as pioneering projects such as the green corridor of electric propulsion between Tarifa and Tangiers.

In addition, Moreno said that it is important to continue making efforts to remain leaders in the national market. Despite the concerns of tourism professionals who have warned of the decrease of Costa del Sol arrivals, Moreno said that "there is no reason to worry, as the tourism figures are very good".

With a larger stand, more open spaces and the yellow colour representing the sun and light of the region, Andalucía showcased its offer at Fitur with an opening day full of tourism entrepreneurs, marked by the visit of the King and Queen of Spain.