Hotel profitability growing faster in Malaga that almost all other city break destinations in Spain

Data provided by Spain's Alliance for Tourism Excellence (Exceltur) shows Malaga city had a 34% growth in profitability compared to the period from June to August 2019, which was a record year for tourism on the Costa del Sol. The figures show the destination was the second highest in Spain only preceded by Oviedo, which saw an increase of 40% due to the strong demand of Spanish tourists seeking refuge from the high temperatures.

In this ranking, Malaga is followed by the cities of Santiago de Compostela, Alicante and Valencia. Exceltur noted, "The destinations with the best product, with greater public investment in the improvement of their environments and urban spaces are the ones with the highest tourist income, as well as the ones that are growing the most this summer compared to 2019."

The tourism body also said that the exceptional performance of the coastal areas of the north of Spain and the surrounding cities, where Spanish demand is predominant, had seen a notable increase in foreign demand during the high season months. There were significant increases in Asturias, with rises of 47.2% on the so-called Costa Verde as a whole. Meanwhile, Madrid and Barcelona experienced increases of 16% and 13%, respectively.

In terms of revenue per room in holiday destinations, the Costa del Sol is in fifth place in a list led by Ibiza and Formentera, with 183 euros, followed by the Costa de Gipuzkoa, Menorca and the Barcelona coast. Behind the Costa del Sol is Mallorca, which recorded an average income per room of 127.3 euros this summer. However, in terms of growth in profitability, the Costa del Sol dropped to seventh place, behind the island destinations and the Asturian coast, which was the number one area. Exceltur said that the buoyant figures of this summer extend to all Spanish tourist destinations, with recorded income 10% higher than in 2019, except for Murcia.

The Exceltur report showed that the Costa del Sol is also among the top destinations with the best prospects, with a forecast increase of almost 16% in sales. "The Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the Mediterranean coast, together with the main urban destinations, lead the forecast for sales in the fourth quarter of 2023.”

Exceltur has revised upwards its estimate of nominal tourism GDP for the whole year to 183 billion euros, 16.3% above the levels in nominal prices of 2019. It said that tourism will make a decisive contribution to the performance of the Spanish economy in 2023, with “21.8% of its growth in current terms, 42.6% if we remove the effect of prices on the value of tourism GDP and that of the Spanish economy."