Costa del Sol theme parks finally show recovery from pandemic with strong tourism figures

Theme parks on the Costa del Sol are starting to register pre-pandemic visitor figures, with some sites even surpassing the number of tourists who visited in 2019.

The leisure industry came to a standstill in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, but, according to some operators, they are now only just starting to enter into a stabilisation phase.

“With respect to 2019 our turnover is up five per cent, but what is happening is that operating costs have increased so much that the balance is negative, down three per cent,” marketing director of Bioparc Fuengirola, Marta Pérez, said.

The increase in operating costs includes the maintenance of the facilities, which "are very high due to the heated areas, heated water or changes in sulphates".

"If the market and inflation continue to tighten, the results will continue to be relatively lower. Although the forecasts for 2023 are good because international tourism is performing excellently,” Pérez added.

General manager of Selwo Aventura, Selwo Marina and Teleférico Benalmádena, Alberto Martín, also pointed out a rise in costs: "Production costs have increased, especially last year when electricity increased our expenses by 40 per cent."

But he also said that he was expecting a strong year in 2023 due to the return of international tourism. "In this 2023 we are recovering the figures of 2019 and even surpassing them because since February when we opened we have worked very well with good performance. In the first five months of the year, the trend has been very positive,” Martín said.

The return of school excursions to theme parks has been one of the contributing reasons why theme parks are bouncing back, as well as international tourism.

"This year has seen a 95% recovery and in schools we are going to be well ahead of 2019 because we have had a full agenda and are even starting to book for next year," Pérez said.

"Tourism is our big [market]; by types, international tourists make up 54 per cent of visitors approximately; 24 per cent are national visitors and the rest are residents who use the voucher or the annual pass,” Pérez added.

The change in the tourist profile is something that Sea Life Benalmádena has noticed, as its marketing director, María Morondo pointed out: "The British are our main market and their recovery is around 60 per cent on average compared to 2019. But on the other hand there are other nationalities that are growing, such as the Dutch, who are in the top three of our visitors; we have never had such a high number of visits from them before. The numbers of national tourists are also approaching those of 2019".