Andalucía recovers pre-pandemic British market with tourists spending 40% more

Andalucía has recovered its pre-pandemic figures of British arrivals to the region in the south of Spain. The revelation comes as Andalusian tourism officials promoted the destination on the first day of the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, considered one of the three most important tourism events in the world, and which runs from this Tuesday 5 November until Thursday 7 November.

The first day kicked off at about 10.30am at the Spanish stand where business owners and tourism operators held a minute's silence to honour the 218 people who died as a result of last week's floods. It was broken by a warm round of applause before people signed a book of condolences. Turespaña director Miguel Ángel Sanz, together with the secretary of state for tourism Rosario Sánchez Grau, and the heads of various Spanish administrations showed their support and solidarity with the Valencia region, which had a black ribbon on its stand.

Federico Fuster, president of the Valencian hotel employers' association (Hosbec), thanked those who paid their respects and said that "life goes on and for that you have to keep working and you have to be here". Marifrancis Peñarroya, general manager of Holiday World, the largest hotel complex on the Costa del Sol said: "The fruit of this work is the best way to contribute to the reconstruction of everything that has been devastated".

During his visit to the Valencia stand, the director of Turespaña told SUR that "it will be a good year for Spanish destinations in the British market". This optimism is tempered by the UK's economic situation, which has had an impact on the spending capacity of families, and by the foreseeable increase in demand from competing markets such as Turkey and Greece. However, Sanz said that Spain continues to be the leading destination for British tourists.

With the same optimism and with equal caution, the Junta de Andalucía's secretary general for tourism, Yolanda Aguilar, announced that the region has managed to recover the pre-pandemic figures of British tourists travelling to the area, and added that the region is also attracting British tourists who spend 40% more in the destination. These tourists are also increasingly travelling outside of high season and are spending more time throughout the region with a 10% increase in the amount of Andalusian municipalities visited by British tourists so far this year.

"We are very satisfied with the results obtained in what is our main international issuing market. In addition to the fact that we are going to reach the records of the historical 2019 in overnight stays of British tourists in the region is that we have managed to attract a visitor who has raised the average spend per person per day by 40% to 152 euros, with an average stay of one week," Aguilar said. There was a boom of British tourists in the first and second quarters of this year, rather than the summer months, with the number of municipalities they visited increasing to 23, she added. Andalucía expects to close the year with 6.9 million overnight hotel stays by the 1.5 million British tourists staying in the region's hotels.

Aguilar also pointed out that the first meetings with British tourism operators had been positive on day one of the WTM, providing a good feeling that Andalusian destinations will continue to grow in popularity next year. "The results confirm that we are a reference destination for the British. With caution, but with optimism, we are confident that we will continue to grow in the United Kingdom," she said.

Airlines have scheduled 8.4% more seats on flights between the UK and Andalucía in the last quarter of the year, offering 855,000 seats, she added. The figure is 8.5% higher than before the pandemic.

Turismo Costa del Sol CEO Esperanza González spoke about how Malaga province will win over more British tourists and encourage them to stay longer in the destination and spend more. She said they plan to increase investment in the UK next year to 1.5 million. This is an increase of 500,000 euros compared to the investment made this year.

She also said airlines have programmed 11% more seats on flights between Malaga Airport and the UK from October to December, resulting in 719,320 seats up for grabs. Only two mayors from Malaga province, Torrox mayor Óscar Medina and Marbella mayor Ángeles Muñoz attended the WTM.

Malaga tourism councillor Jacobo Florido pointed out the loyalty of the British tourists who have booked 15% more hotel nights than last year, up to 135,000, and who spend more than the average visitor to Malaga city, with an average spend of 160 euros per person per day. "It is a tourist who stays mostly in hotels and who is looking for everything that an urban destination has to offer," he said. "We are a very appealing destination. In fact, Malaga is the city with the highest growth in overnight stays among cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants," Florido added.