Costa del Sol recovers its main international tourist markets since Covid-19 shut down foreign travel

The Costa del Sol has recovered its main international tourist markets since the Covid-19 pandemic put an abrupt halt on travel.

In the first eight months of this year holidaymaker numbers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States increased by at least 30% compared to 2019, according to Turismo Costa del Sol.

Tourists from Portugal and Poland increased the most, with a 51.2% and 45.9% increase, the figures showed. Margarita del Cid, CEO of the local tourism board said: "this shows the consolidation of the recovery of the travel sector compared to the same months of 2019, prior to the coronavirus health crisis, especially with regard to the arrival of tourists from international markets".

Cid pointed out that although the British market has not managed to equal or surpass the records of 2019 this year, "it does show a notable improvement of 7% if we compare tourists from the UK in August this year with the same month of 2019". However, the United Kingdom is the country responsible for the highest number of arrivals to pass through Malaga Airport from January to August, followed by Germany.

Meanwhile, there was a 50.4% increases in the arrivals of Dutch, French and Irish, compared to the same months of 2019, as well as a 422% increase in Moroccan tourists in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2019.

Accommodation

From January to August, there has also been a 3.3% increase to 2019 in the total number of tourists staying in hotels, flats, campsites and rural accommodation, reaching a total of more than 5,428,000 visitors. There has also been a 2.4% increase in the number of hotel overnight stays and a 4% increase in hotel employment, Cid pointed out.