Spain's big challenge for tourism in 2025: How to grow revenue more than visitor numbers

All the forecasts indicate that Spain can expect a new record of tourists in 2025, with figures possibly reaching 100 million visitors, according to Jordi Hereu, minister of industry and tourism. The challenge this year is to achieve these numbers while increasing revenue and avoiding the saturation of cities and holiday resort destinations.

According to data issued by the ministry a few days ago, 2024 closed with an all-time record of 94 million foreign tourists in Spain, 10% more than the 84 million visitors recorded in 2023. What tourists spent also reached a record: some 122 billion euros in one year, that's 16% more than at the end of 2023, when the sector earned 108 billion. A higher increase in spending compared to the increase in the number of tourists indicates more spending due to two factors: higher prices and more premium services.

In other words, more tourists are coming to visit Spain than ever before. Another important observation is that more tourists have started to go to destinations that offer something different from the usual sunny locations close to beaches. The longed-for deseasonalisation has pushed up prices and the national association of hoteliers (Cehat) predicts an increase of 5% in rates in the first quarter of 2025 . This figure is added on top of the accumulated increase of 35% that Spain has been registering since 2020. Between January and November 2024, the average room rate was almost 120 euros, compared to 90 euros for the same period in 2019, according to INE national statistics institute data.

However, not everything can be based on price increases. Experts recommend that Spain orientates towards high-end tourists, to increase revenue (through more luxurious hotels, shows, restaurants, more shopping in shops, etc.) rather than arrivals. The reasoning behind can be found in sustainability. "Exponential growth in a destination as mature as our country is not only unsustainable, but would have unfavourable consequences, such as greater citizen disaffection, a negative environmental impact and even a worsening in the ability to offer a quality service," said Germán Jiménez, director of Turium.

Tourist arrivals from the US, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil soared last year, both in number of overnight stays and in consumption, level of spending and even interest in investing in Spain. However, Jiménez has stated that the tourism of excellence that Turium advocates goes beyond the origin of the visitor and focuses more on the typology. "It is a type of tourist who respects the environment they visit, who recognises its value, who seeks genuine experiences and local immersion. They travel without haste, with the aim of personal enrichment and avoid overcrowding."

Madrid is the city that is benefiting the most from this type of long-haul tourism, but many cities in Andalucía, the Basque Country, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands have also reaped some benefits of the phenomena.

The INE's figures for the end of 2024 reveal that the number of Asian tourists grew the most, with 14.2% more visitors than in 2023. The US has established itself as an important source market with 4.2 million tourists, 11.2% more than in 2023.

Tourism will continue expanding in 2025. Caixabank Research has estimated that tourism GDP will grow by 3.6% in 2025 (after having grown by 6% in 2024), jumping more than one point above the growth forecast for the economy as a whole. Tourism will account for 13.2% of the economy as a whole in 2025, reaching its highest level in historical records.

According to economists, this growth rests on two solid foundations. On the one hand, it is expected that the main markets will improve economically this year, which will boost demand for international travel. On the other, prices of tourism services in Spain are much more flexible than those in the main competitor countries.