Around 21.7 million tourists visited Andalucia during 2011, an increase of 2.3% over the previous year.
2011 tourist numbers
According to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the number of international vistors to Spain during 2011 was up by 8.1% with spending also up by 8.1%.
53.96 million tourists have visited Spain so far this year
In the first eleven months of this year Spain received a total of 53.96 million foreign tourists, an increase of 7.7% over the same period last year.
Positive tourism figures
According to a Tourist Spending Survey (Egatur) commissioned by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, tourist spending in Spain was up by 2% in 2010, the first positive figures since 2007.
Christmas advertising campaign
‘Andalucia, the best gift for Christmas’ is the motto of an advertising campaign by the Department of Tourism of the Junta de Andalucia to attract visitors to the region over the holiday period, the campaign running until January 7th 2011.
Project to attract Scandinavian tourists
During the tourist boom of the 1960’s, both in Nerja and along the Costa del Sol in general, visitors from the Scandinavian countries played a prominent role in the success of the tourist industry. However, in recent years, the number of Scandinavian visitors has been slowly declining, replaced by national tourism and visitors from, in the main, Britain and Germany.
International visitors
The number of international tourists arriving in Andalucia in May was 789,.846, an increase of 6.5% over the same month last year. This was despite almost 5,000 flights being cancelled as a result of the Icelandic volcano eruption.
Uncertain times
A new cloud hangs over the Costa del Sol, amongst other places, as two major northern European markets, Germany and the UK, introduce austerity measures to combat the continuing financial crisis. The UK and Germany account for around 40% of hotel bookings on the Costa del Sol.
First quarter tourism
Figures for the first quarter of 2010 show that a total of 8.81 million foreign visitors arrived in Spain during the period, up 0.3% on the same period last year, with Andalucia registering a 7.4% increase.
Alonso on tourism
The Minister for Tourism, Trade and Sport, Luciano Alonso, has stated that tourism for Andalucia during Holy Week has been excellent with hotel occupancy of around 80%.