2024 is set to be Andalucía's best year in history for tourism
The year has seen 35 million tourists visit the region and has brought in a estimated 29.5 billion euros in revenue
As anti-tourist sentiment persists throughout much of Spain, the tourism sector remains strong as Andalucía has had a record-breaking year in the number of people visiting the beautiful region.
Regional Minister for Tourism, Arturo Bernal, has just issued a statement claiming, 2024 will close as the best year in history for Andalusian tourism. The minister highlighted the milestones reached this year in the sector as he points to the figures that show that up to 480,000 people have been employed as a result of tourism to the region.
Furthermore, Bernal is confident that Andalucía has overcome its seasonality, as he states that there has been strong growth experienced outside the high season. The minister has been keen to capitalise on the profits that such an industry can offer to the region. For Bernal, history is being made as tourism has increased in real terms by 7.8% compared to the first nine months of 2023.
Andalucía is heading towards a more sustainable and year-round tourism, claims Bernal, as the results have shown a 7% increase in employment in the sector of tourism. Furthermore, the high unemployment and temporary employment rate that has plagued Spain in the past has also seen a decline in the region, as temporary employment has fallen from 40% in 2019 to 29% at this moment.
The region has also made a leap forward in attracting tourists with greater spending capacity, which has led to revenues reaching 19.63 billion euros in the first nine months of the year. This represents a growth of 2.2 billion more than the numbers recorded during the same period last year.
Key to this growth is the increase in efforts to attract foreign visitors from distant markets such as Asia, which experienced a 133% growth and the United States, which saw an increase of 44%. Places such as the Netherlands have also begun to flock to the sunny region with a 55% increase in visitors from this country this year.
The minister has stated that the reason for this increase in tourists is down to the fact that the regions ‘promotion campaigns are working and attracting the type of tourist that has greater spending capacity. The region has managed to attract the tourists we have been looking for.’
Finally however, a question remains about the future of an economy based so heavily on tourism. With mounting tensions surrounding tourism, the future for young people and the increases in prices that they believe tourism creates, it is yet to be seen how the government and the people of Andalucía will see eye to eye in the coming years if the region continues to push for ever more tourism.
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