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Dutch visitor numbers to Costa del Sol reach new heights

Dutch visitor numbers to Costa del Sol reach new heights

TOURISM ·

Travellers from the Netherlands have become the third most important international market for Malaga province, after the United Kingdom and Germany

Pilar Martínez

Malaga

Wednesday, 1 March 2023, 11:39

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A report by Turismo Costa del Sol, the tourism board for Malaga province, has found that the restrictions on mobility during the health crisis have had long-lasting effects on visitors, with former minority markets now performing best. At the end of 2022, only the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Morocco presented growth in tourist arrivals to Malaga Airport higher than in 2019.

The boom of the Costa del Sol as a destination for Dutch sun-seekers has been such that this market has become the third most important international country for Malaga province, after the United Kingdom and Germany, which at the end of 2022 were 18.7% and 22%, respectively, down on the pre-pandemic record year of 2019.

This contrasts with the data which shows that during the same period Dutch tourists arriving at the airport increased by 0.4%, with 564,757 travellers, and Italian tourists rose by 7.5%, with 365,624 visitors. However, it is worth noting the 236% increase in passenger arrivals from Morocco, a figure that coincides with the opening and expansion of flights to various Moroccan airports. Also noteworthy is the increase in Norwegian arrivals, of almost 2%, which is also related to the decision of the financially imperiled Norwegian airline, to fly only to Malaga and Alicante in Spain.

In addition to these international markets, domestic tourism also recorded a 13.2% increase, with 1,658,180 passengers flying into Malaga Airport, almost 200,000 more than before the pandemic. The sector is now awaiting the reactivation of key countries such as the British, German and French.

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