Currently, Spain is undergoing a recovery period where tourism is concerned. This is because around 10.3 million travelers entered the country in July 2023.
These tourists visited Spain via international airports, which has marked an increase of more than 11%, as compared to the same time period in 2022.
Turespaña, the Spanish Institute of Tourism, further revealed that as compared to the record figures that the country reported in July 2019, those for July 2023 reveal a decline of just 1.62%.
Consequently, it has been determined that 56% of the overall passenger flow comes from the member states that are a part of the European Union.
Tourism growth
Turespaña went on to point out that as compared to a year ago, Poland, Portugal, and Italy were the markets that showed the most growth in terms of tourism.
Poland recorded a surge in July, with an increase in travelers, booking flights to Spain, of up to 34.7%. Portugal followed close behind with a growth rate of 23.3%.
Italy brought up the rear with 18.8%, while foreign travelers coming in from the United Kingdom contributed around 24.1% to the overall arrivals in Spain.
The figure for the United Kingdom marked a year-on-year rise of 8.2%.
The increase in the percentage of foreign travelers is a positive growth that has impacted the numbers in most regions in Spain.
The Canary Islands and the Balearic have been on the receiving end of the most British travelers, with figures being 20.1 % and 28.7%, respectively.
German travelers
Meanwhile, Turespaña further added that passengers arriving from Germany made up a total of 14.2%, which is a 6.6% increase as compared to the pre-pandemic levels.
The report also indicated that around 48.4% of these German tourists made the trip specifically for the Balearic Islands.
In the month of July, there was a rise in the social security affiliates connected to tourism activities. The number increased by 3.9%, as compared to the same time period in 2022.
Consequently, the number of social security affiliates reached up to 2,807,626, as a whole.
The report released by the Spanish Ministry of Tourism further indicated that employment in the tourism industry contributes 13.6% to the national economy.
But when compared to the data recorded in July 2019, there were only 2,618,636 affiliates. Thus, there has been an increase in July 2023 of 7.2%.
Best July
Even in the case of tourism employment, July has been a month of growth and recorded the best numbers in the history of the country.
In the month of June, around 104,981 employees were on board the tourism workforce, as compared to the corresponding time period of 2022.
Meanwhile, the tourism industry recorded a growth in employment numbers in the second quarter of 2023. The number stood at 2,864,776, which showed a 5.4% increase from 2022 and a 6.3% increase from 2019.
Between the months of April and June in 2023, the tourism activities market registered a rise of 146,678 employees, in comparison to 2022.
