Malaga economy: conference tourism generated 284 million euros in 2025

Malaga hit a record revenue of 284 million euros from conference tourism in 2025, nearly 7% more compared to 2024. This has resulted in an economic impact that exceeds 641 million euros for the city's economy.

On Tuesday, councillor for tourism Jacobo Florido presented the figures from the review of conference tourism: 2,215 professional meetings (+1.1%) and events, 330,000 attendees (+ 2.2%).

Conventions and forums accounted for 80% of all meetings, followed by conferences (10%) and incentive trips (8%). Of all participants, 41.1% attended conventions, 23.3% conferences, 19.1% forums or seminars, 13.1% trade fairs and 3.4% came for incentive trips.

Meetings in the medical and health field accounted for 22.2% of the total, followed by tech meetings with 13.8%.

Seven out of every ten professionals who took part in the events were Spanish and eight out of ten of the foreigners came from Europe.

Of the spending generated by those attending these events, Florido said that accommodation accounted for the largest share (43.5%), amounting to around 123.9 million euros. This was followed by ancillary spending outside the meetings, totalling 89.2 million, while registration fees reached 58.5 million. Spending by accompanying persons stood at 13 million, representing 4.6% of the total direct economic impact.

Foreign participants spent an average of 395.5 euros per person per day, while Spanish attendees spent 399.5 euros. "The total expenditure varies substantially depending on the origin: 799 euros in the case of national tourists and 1,463 euros for international participants, almost 100 euros more than in 2024, due to their longer average stay," Florido said.

The councillor finished the presentation by highlighting the level of satisfaction professionals had with Malaga - 9.4 points out of ten. They were mostly charmed by the cuisine, the climate, safety and the culture and leisure offer of the city.