Spain set for tourism record as U.S. visitors counter Brexit blues

 

FILE PHOTO: Tourists sunbathe in El Arenal beach in the island of Mallorca, Spain, August 11, 2018. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo/File Photo

 

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain is on track for a record year of tourist arrivals, the seventh straight year of new highs, with U.S. and Asian visitors countering the disruption of Brexit and collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook, the industry minister said on Wednesday.

 

Spain is the world's second-most visited country after France and tourism is crucial for the domestic economy, contributing to nearly 12% of national gross domestic product.

 

The first eight months of the year saw the number of international tourists to Spain grow by 1.3% to 67.1 million, Industry Minister Reyes Maroto told a news conference.

 

Increasing tourism from the United States and Asia has helped compensate for a fall in arrivals from the countries that traditionally favour Spain, she said.

 

While uncertainties such as Brexit and the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook had affected some people's decisions to visit Spain, separatist tensions in the northeastern region of Catalonia have so far had little impact on international tourism, Maroto added.

 

Spain is forecast to end the year with a 0.7% increase in the number of international tourists, she estimated, which would set a new record of 83.4 million visitors.

 

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Writing by Jessica Jones and Ashifa Kassam; Editing by Pravin Char)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-11-22

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Looks awful, I wouldn't want to be on a beach that was so crowded.

Increase of 1.3% sounds trivial to me, I'd have been impressed by a 10% increase.

so much for my idea of wending my way back to the states via european beaches.

That crowded beach is a grotesque misrepresentations of the beauty of spain.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Looks awful, I wouldn't want to be on a beach that was so crowded.

Increase of 1.3% sounds trivial to me, I'd have been impressed by a 10% increase.

Agree. Looks like an open air urinal. 

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

so much for my idea of wending my way back to the states via european beaches.

It's winter now in Spain so the beaches won't be crowded.

The above photo supplied courtesy of TAT.

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Looks awful, I wouldn't want to be on a beach that was so crowded.

Increase of 1.3% sounds trivial to me, I'd have been impressed by a 10% increase.

Given the Brexit situation, actually having an increase at all is very impressive.

Perhaps the tourism minister Phipat should take a look at Spain, for sure he can learn a lot!

2 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Given the Brexit situation, actually having an increase at all is very impressive.

Apparently 13 million Brits holiday in Spain every year (probably even more from Germany!).

In recent years an old friend who I used to see in Thailand had a week or two in Valencia on holiday, "cheaper than Thailand" he commented.

I make quite a few comments about how Thailand is no longer so cheap, bearing in mind that I was first there in 1985 when it was insanely cheap. It's quite a lot wealthier country now, there's now a burgeoning middle-class, nothing like that in '85.

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Looks awful, I wouldn't want to be on a beach that was so crowded.

Increase of 1.3% sounds trivial to me, I'd have been impressed by a 10% increase.

Hey. FYI. There are more than one beach in Spain. Was just there in Sept  and can provide dozens of links. Many are peaceful quiet ones. 

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

Hey. FYI. There are more than one beach in Spain. Was just there in Sept  and can provide dozens of links. Many are peaceful quiet ones. 

That’s true... IMO Huelva, Cadiz, Malaga or Almeria in Andalucia) there are the best quiet spanish beaches

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Looks awful, I wouldn't want to be on a beach that was so crowded.

Increase of 1.3% sounds trivial to me, I'd have been impressed by a 10% increase.

You don't have to travel far from the likes of Benidorm to find dozens of beaches that are infinitely better than what Pattaya has to offer.  Cheap rental cars too, in a country where it's actually safe to drive.

El Arenal beach is the Spanish equivalent of Pattaya beach, no more representative of Spain than Pattaya is of Thailand.

20 minutes ago, cme said:

El Arenal beach is the Spanish equivalent of Pattaya beach, no more representative of Spain than Pattaya is of Thailand.

 

 

Hahahaha,

 

I went there once thirty years ago! It was full of Germans and all the Brits were around the other side in Magaluf!

 

It was OK because I was 27 at the time, I still even then, had no plans to return.

4 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

 

 

Hahahaha,

 

I went there once thirty years ago! It was full of Germans and all the Brits were around the other side in Magaluf!

 

It was OK because I was 27 at the time, I still even then, had no plans to return.

 

There is more to Spain than Magaluf.

11 hours ago, zydeco said:

Agree. Looks like an open air urinal. 

No !

When we went to the UK earlier this year for a friends wedding, we went on to Spain for a two week vacation. 

 

We're not beach people, so visited, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Granada.

 

Fabulous vacation we loved it.

 

Wasn't that expensive compared to Thailand and the culture and scenery was awesome.

 

My wife who is a US permanent resident had no problems getting a UK & Schengen visa for the whole trip

19 hours ago, zydeco said:

The above photo supplied courtesy of TAT.

Enrique Calvo it says.

 

I was in Barcelona last week. people I talked to there say that the Chinese are flooding in. They were grateful to us for demonstrating Alipay and WeChat for them.

 

Free Cava all round. ????????