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Britons top visitors to Spain in July as tourism breaks records

 

FILE PHOTO - Tourists sunbathe and swim at the beach of Magaluf on the island of Mallorca, Spain, August 19, 2017. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo

 

MADRID (Reuters) - July marked another monthly record for tourist arrivals in Spain as the number of visitors rose 10.1 percent year-on-year, with Britons still leading the pack, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday.

 

Spain hosted over 10.5 million foreign tourists in the month, adding to expectations that in 2017 arrivals will reach a fresh high. In the first seven months of the year, the number of visitors rose 11.3 percent to 46.9 million.

 

Caixabank Research predicts a total of 83 million internationals tourists will visit throughout the year.

 

Northeastern Catalonia, a popular destination due to its Mediterranean coastline, was the most visited region in July.

 

Catalonia was hit by two Islamist militant attacks on Aug. 17 and 18 on major tourist haunts. Attackers mowed down crowds on Barcelona's Las Ramblas and struck the seaside town of Cambrils, killing 16 people and injuring more than 100.

 

Hotel groups and government ministers have so far dismissed concerns that the attacks could affect tourist arrivals, saying cancellations since have been isolated.

 

Spain had benefited from security concerns elsewhere after attacks on other popular tourist spots such as Tunisia and Turkey.

 

Safety and security concerns are becoming increasingly important to travellers, with up to two thirds only planning to travel to international destinations they perceive as safe, according to a survey by ITB World Travel.

 

Tourism has been a key industry for Spain's economic recovery, accounting for around 11 percent of economic output and employing 13 percent of the population.

 

British tourists remained the largest group of visitors to Spain by nationality, accounting for 22.1 percent of the total, in spite of Britain's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 and the falling value of sterling since.

 

"There is no noticeable impact of Brexit on our future bookings, which remain positive," a spokesman for British tour operator Thomas Cook said. "The annual sun and beach holiday is resilient."

 

Just over 2.3 million Britons travelled to Spain in July, up 7 percent from a year earlier.

 

Further drops in the pound could be a dampener for package holidays and affect prices, however. Tour operators in Europe tend to take fuel costs and make bed bookings in euros, meaning a weaker pound could translate into higher costs being passed on to consumers.  

 

(Reporting by Emily Lupton, Editing by Sarah White)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-8-31

[Suttisan]

Went to Spain last month, tapas was very cheap, good sized portions for less than 3 pounds, I don't drink but did buy non alcoholic beers in the supermarket, so cheap, about 30p per can. Thailand is too expensive at the moment, hopefully a stronger pound in the next year or so, a weaker baht will help too. 

[SteveB2]

Yep - no need to guess anymore where all the Brit tourists to Thailand went after the UK home office announced the near 50% drop in UK Thailand heading tourism during the last 5 years...

 

[wanderluster]

and you wonder why spain is the largest country to be pissed off at all the tourists making their country a living hell now.  i am not saying it is the brits, their are many chinese there as well now, way more than in the past. as well as many other countrys. even i as a canadian have been there 2 times in the last 3 yrs.   too many tourists can help economy but can make chances to original way of life.  crowded roads, almost impossible to see your own local treasures etc. so i am just as guilty as any else.  5000 tourists visiting 1 site and you just want to get home to your house near by.  sorry spain

[smedly]

and of course Spain one of the 27 that is not co-operating with the UK on exit negotiations - which are turning out to be a farce from the EU side, the UK has put forward some very constructive proposals and yet the EU have put forward absolutely nothing

 

I suspect the next round of none talks will be very short lived

 

It really is hilarious that the EU keep pointing the finger at the UK for not putting their cards on the table - seems to me so far that the EU have produced nothing....zero and keep passing it over 

 

The whole thing if it wasn't serious is actually comical - the UK are now (rightly so) exposing this shambolic shambles for what it is

 

What I see happening now is the UK throwing it out there ......................either come up with some proposals or we will walk 

 

My own belief is that they will walk already, the talks are going nowhere , the EU has put nothing on the table and yet keep blaming the UK for lack of progerr

[Beats56]

Lived there for a year on a work assignment. Loved it. Want to back some time.

 

[Laughing Gravy]

So the rise and near parity with the pound to euro isn't affecting tourism. Spain is lovely and easy to get to from the UK. Things are cheap and many Brits will continue to go there. That will upset the remainers. Spain has something for everyone and in the resorts the level of English is very good. Something you can't say about Thailand.

 

I can't see the reason the Spanish are complaining though. They really on tourism heavily as their economy is hardly booming.

[OJAS]

Will be interesting to see what the August figures say, though - given that that's the peak month for UK tourists.

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, Laughing Gravy said:

So the rise and near parity with the pound to euro isn't affecting tourism. Spain is lovely and easy to get to from the UK. Things are cheap and many Brits will continue to go there. That will upset the remainers. Spain has something for everyone and in the resorts the level of English is very good. Something you can't say about Thailand.

 

I can't see the reason the Spanish are complaining though. They really on tourism heavily as their economy is hardly booming.

Not only can't I see why the Spanish are complainin, I can't see where they're complaining. Are you reading between the lines?

[Laughing Gravy]

4 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Not only can't I see why the Spanish are complaining. I can't see where they're complaining. Are you reading between the lines?

I just assumed you read more than this article and the recent Spanish people rising against Tourists. I never stated it was in this article.I could send you many articles on the subject but I am sure you can do a google search.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Laughing Gravy