The Costa del Sol closed 2013 having received 9.5 million tourists, an increase of five percent over the previous year and is expected to maintain growth in 2014. This bucks the national trend of decreases in tourist numbers.
According to Málaga Council, these are the best results for the Costa del Sol for five years and is a result of the economic recovery and the increase in the number of connections to the area. The latter part of the statement certainly makes sense.
The official figures, however, cover different time periods, making any meaningful insight a little difficult except for political purposes.
In the first nine months of 2013, the number of hotel guests increased by 5% and the number of overnight stays increased by 5.8%.
For non-hotel accommodation between January and October, the increase in traveller numbers was up by 9.8% and the number of overnight stays was up by 3%.
Málaga airport received 2% more travellers, arrivals and departures, in the period January to November, with 12.2 million passengers passing through the facility.
Regarding tourist spending in Andalucia, this was up by 7.8% between January and October 2013.