The Costa del Sol had its best summer in 2017
The Costa del Sol had its best summer ever this year with over 7 million visitors and 7,000 million euros of expenditure to beat both previous records.
These results summarise the general trend of summer tourism which has been steadily increasing over recent years.
Costa del Sol Tourism President Elías Bendodo, said the “professionalism and experience of entrepreneurs who support continued growth and are at the same time committed to grow in a sustainable way, are consolidating every step we take with common sense and confidence in the future.”
Bendodo also stated that although our summer “does not end until the World Travel Market begins,” these figures are “spectacular”.
Topping 7 million tourists means the area beat last year’s total by 350,000, despite 2016 being another “record” year.
The huge number of visitors also had repercussions on other areas, such as the creation of employment, in industries affected by tourism, which has grown by 8%. That means a total of 112,000 extra workers in the tourism sector in the province of Málaga.
These numbers lead to wealth creation, added Bendodo, which is clearly demonstrated with the 459 million euros more received in tourist income this year, passing 7 billion euros for the first time.
General Upward Indicators
Bendodo also pointed out that travellers staying at a hotel increased by 1.8%, while those choosing other accommodation increased by 18.4%.
Málaga Costa del Sol Airport also saw its best summer numbers. The number of passengers passing through the airport during the summer increased by 11.6% to just over 4.1 million.
The source country to have registered the highest rate of growth in their tourists’ contribution to Málaga are the Nordic countries, which in general grew by 21%, with special mention to Sweden which sent 46% more visitors than in the previous year. Also increasing were the Netherlands (36%), Italy (27%), Denmark and Germany (19%).
As expected, the UK provided the largest chunk of visitors with 1.4 million Brits visiting the region over the summer, an increase of 7% compared to 2016. This is despite worries about Brexit and the low value of the pound meaning tourists get less for their Euro than last year.
Q4 Forecast
In the final stage of his speech, Bendodo released some forecasts for the final quarter of the year.
“We are on track for a great fourth quarter, although we are going to overlap with the fall of some low-cost airlines and the cancellation of many regular flights.” Despite that, he predicts that tourism in the region “will grow 12% in the number of arrivals in the last quarter.”
On the same subject, Bendodo highlighted the acts of other European airports such as Amsterdam, which will increase the number of seats available to the Costa del Sol by 52%, along with other airports including Helsinki and Stockholm.
