While snow falls across Europe, this is Spain.
March was another great month for tourism in Spain with 4.8 million international visitors arriving, representing a 16.1% increase over March 2015.
The UK once again provided the majority of those travellers with 1.1 million Brits visiting our sunny shores. With the weather they have been having lately it’s not surprising! Brits made up 23.1% of all international tourists visiting Spain in March, an increase of 25% over the same period last year.
The number of German and French tourists also increased compared to the same period last year. Germans accounted for 793,840 visitors while the French accounted for 576,483, representing increases of 15.6% and 2.9%, respectively.
In terms of annual growth, visitors from Ireland increased a massive 59.7%, while Dutch travellers increased 34.8%. Visitor numbers from the “rest of Europe” increased by 22.3%.
When looking at the first three months of 2016 Spain has received 12 million international travellers, and increase of 13.9%.
By Region
The Canary Islands were the first choice destination for travellers accounting for 27% of the total. The islands were followed by Catalonia and Andalucia, which accounted for 22.6% and 14.3% of travellers, respectively.
March saw 1.3 million tourists visiting the Canary Islands, representing an increase of 18.5% when compared to March in the previous year. Of those visitors 33.4% were from the UK and 20.3% were travelling from Germany.
Andalucia received almost 700,000 visitors which represents annual growth of 30.9% for March. Once again, travellers from the UK represent the largest proportion with 29% of the total, followed by Nordic countries with 13% of travellers.
The Balearic Islands saw an increase of 46.5%, while travellers to Valencia increased 24.5%. Madrid received 2.1% more travellers than in March 2015.
For the first quarter the Canaries received just short of 3.5 million visitors, an increase of 9.8%. Catalonia finished the quarter with 2.7 million visitors, an increase of 8.3%. Andalusia saw the biggest growth for the quarter with just over 1.6 million visitors, an increase of 22.5%.
Snow, in April?
It has been a fun week for most of us, watching as the rest of Europe shivers in April snow and hail storms while we lay on the beach in 25 degrees. Spain’s weather is a huge pull for tourists and the south coast is special, with its own micro climate thanks to the Sierra Nevada mountains and also its proximity to Africa.
Andalusia has long been a favourite for tourists looking to escape the winter blues of most other European countries. With the issues of security affecting many other countries and resorts it’s no wonder that Spain is seeing a tourism surge. However temporary it might be it is good news for Spain’s economy.
