Spanish tourism sector plans to break records again in 2024

He tourism in Spain, second world destination, is going to break its 2023 record this year, according to the Exceltur employers’ association, while expressing its “worry” due to the growing protests against the excess of visitors.

The tourist GDP of Spainfor the first time it would exceed 200,000 million euros” (almost US$ 213,000) in 2024, explained José Luis Zoreda, vice president of Exceltur, at a press conference in Madrid.

If, as Exceltur predicts, the activity exceeds this ceiling, reaching 202,651 million euros, this figure would represent an increase in 8.6% compared to 2023, when they were already registered “spectacular growth rates”he added.

Tourism, a pillar of the Spanish economy, would in that case represent the 13.3% of the Spanish GDP. In the first quarter alone, tourism grew by 13.8% in the country.

According to Exceltur, Spain benefits from its “security” regard “to the competing destinations of the [mar] Eastern Mediterranean” in full escalation in the Middle East, but also in a “standardization” of the “tourist trips at a global level, with the Asian market fully incorporated” to them, after the brakes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The second world tourist destination behind France, Spain also benefits from the increase in air links and the diversification of the railway offer with the emergence of new operators.

In 2023, Spain received a record number of 85.1 million international tourists, mainly from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Faced with these figures, anti-tourism movements are multiplying, from the Balearic Islands to the Canary Islands, passing through Barcelona and Malaga.

Asked about this, José Luis Zoreda did not hide the concern in the sector. “Our concern”he replied, is ““that tourism is sustainable and does not generate social boredom.”

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