Spain set to welcome even more holiday makers

Posted on: May 12, 2011

Written by Max Bielby

Spain has made good progress, putting the country on course to fulfil the World Tourism Organisation’s (WTO) predictions. The WTO announced that Spain is expected gain annual increases in its tourism levels of 5%; reaching an impressive 75 million yearly visitors by 2020. This 2020 forecast represents 20 million more visitors than received in Spain’s 2005 peak.

Data recorded throughout February showed that Spain experienced a year on year tourism increase of 4.3% which is promising as visitor numbers are set to increase at higher rates during the summer.

Furthermore, growth specific to the most popular holiday resorts has been even stronger. The Costa Blanca, home to the famous resorts of Benidorm, Alicante and Orihuela saw impressive growth of 10% last year.

Another popular Spanish tourism hot spot expected to see accelerated growth over coming years is Murcia. Host to the planned Paramount Theme Park set to open in 2015, Murcia is will welcome millions more visitors every year.

However when we refer to Spain’s tourism growth, we mustn’t forget that tourism is already big business in Spain. It is the 4th most visited country in the world and Spain’s tourism revenues exceed the crude oil revenues generated by most OPEC nations!

Property is always a valuable commodity in a country that has strong appeal to holiday makers. Historically, Spain’s tourism growth has walked hand in hand with property price growth and with another long period of growth expected and prices at their lowest, now certainly seems to be the time to buy.