Costa del Sol launches plan to bring back Spanish tourists

The Costa del Sol has unveiled a plan to bring back Spanish tourists after a dip in domestic tourism in recent years.

The Costa's tourism board (Turismo Costa del Sol) presented its fresh campaign Grita Mi Nombre (Shout My Name) at Madrid's Retiro park as the city hosts the International Tourism Fair (Fitur). The campaign will go live on digital media, social media, radio and national television, and appeal to the so-called Generation Z.

President of the provincial Diputación and Turismo Costa del Sol Francisco Salado said the aim was to reverse declining numbers in domestic tourism. Despite 2023 being a historic year for the destination's tourism industry, Salado said this was mainly driven by international visitors. "The national market registered lower figures than in 2022, with a decrease of 1.58%," he said.

A total of 6,158,000 Spaniards from outside Malaga visited the province last year. "This is a figure that is higher than before the pandemic, but lower than in 2022," Salado said. It caused a 2.2% drop in the economic impact generated by domestic tourism in the province, which he put at 6.62 billion euros. "We are convinced that this year we will manage to recover the Spanish tourism lost in 2023 and to build loyalty and consolidate this market, which is very important for the destination," Salado pointed out.

Regarding the causes for the drop in demand, Salado said, "Perhaps some people have opted to travel to other cheaper destinations because of the rise in prices, but we know that cheap ends up being expensive and that they will return to the Costa del Sol because of the diversity and quality on offer."

"Forecasts are optimistic. There is a 44% increase in searches for flights to Malaga until April," Salado added. Most of the Spaniards searching for flights to Malaga are from Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao.

In a bid to attract more Spaniards, Turismo Costa del Sol announced it will invest 1.5 million euros in 2024 in promotional activities to attract 50% more domestic tourists than 2023.