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The Costa del Sol and the wider Malaga province has closed 2024 as the best tourism year in history, according to the latest data. "It has been an extraordinary year," said Turismo Costa del Sol president Francisco Salado while presenting the figures from the past 12 months.
The province welcomed 14.4 million tourists, some 474,000 more (3.17%) with tourist spending exceeding 21.2 billion euros, 10.9% more than in 2023. "Although it may seem unbelievable, we have to remember every year, because some people don't seem to want to know that tourism is the main industry not only of this province, but of the Andalucía region and Spain, both in economic and employment terms," Salado pointed out.
The number of workers employed in the tourism sector went up by 7% last year, with 137,408 people employed, according to the EPA. "The jobs created have grown more than twice as much as the number of tourists and also hotel profitability, with an increase of 6%," Salado said. "Malaga province has once again shown it is the main tourist destination in Andalucía and one of the main destinations in Spain and Europe," he added.
Even after a successful 2024, Salado said similar numbers were no guarantee in 2025, pointing out concerns which may prevent people travelling in the future such as international wars and inflation. The data shows a drop in cruise passengers in 2024 as well as a decline in domestic tourism. Malaga province welcomed 2.45 million Spanish tourists in hotels and holiday flats, a 7.5% decrease from January to November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while international tourists increased by 6.9%.
To reverse this situation, Salado announced a host of measures to help encourage domestic tourism this year, although he pointed out that "the decision to travel to the coast is very personal and depends on the economic possibilities of families". "It is also true that many Spaniards are staying in tourist accommodation for which we have no data," Salado said.
He pointed out that an improvement of the accommodation offer contributed to the Costa del Sol's record year, where 659,030 beds (13.5% more) were offered.
Most of last year's tourists who flocked to Malaga province were from the United Kingdom (1,183,629 visitors) and which is a 7.2% increase, followed by Germany with 341,568 and an increase of 12.8%; France with 334,176 and an increase of 3.5%; the Netherlands with 332,044 visitors and an increase of 7.3%; Ireland with an increase of 19.9% with 307,714 tourists, as well as the United States, with 220,615, an increase of 26.1%.
"The improvement in connectivity with the USA has been key. We are confident that these results will boost the increase in flights to this market," Salado said, pointing out that not only are tourism officials confident United Airlines will soon announce a year-round flight between Malaga and New York, but that they are also in contact with other airlines to achieve direct connections with airports such as Miami, Atlanta and Detroit. Tourism officials are also waiting for the Chinese government to make a decision on which air route they want with Andalucía.
Salado said 2025 "will be a good year" and pointed out that the forecast of airline seats offered for the first four months of the year shows an increase of 10.7% compared to the same period last year, with 4,165,566 seats.
The ten main issuing markets to the Costa del Sol (United Kingdom, domestic market, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, Ireland, Belgium, Poland and Denmark) are growing in the supply of airline seats to Malaga Airport, he pointed out. "From Turismo Costa del Sol, hand in hand with the sector and the other administrations, we are working in the right direction, achieving the goal of reducing seasonality, prioritising quality and profitability and employment generated by our main industry," Salado added.
Salado said this data should make those who blame tourism for the lack of housing reflect, pointing the finger instead at governments. "The important thing is that governments have become aware of the need to act with measures such as lowering the cost of public housing, with direct aid for the purchase of homes, or with legislation to give legal security to those who rent their properties," he said. "We have to break the cycle whereby the only way out is through holiday rentals, given the risk that they will be occupied. Tourism is not to blame. We have to be very careful not to shoot ourselves in the foot."
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