Tourism in Spain Is Booming Close to Pre-COVID Levels, Official Data Show
Spain is experiencing a recovery in terms of tourism as almost 10.3 million travellers arrived in the country through its international airports in July 2023, thus marking an increase of 11.5 per cent compared to 2022.
The latest report from the Spanish Institute of Tourism, Turespaña, also reveals that compared to the historical record figures in July 2019, the figures for July 2023 show a decline of only 1.62 per cent, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
As a result, 56 per cent of the total passenger flow originates from the European Union member states.
Poland, Portugal & Italy Among Markets That Recorded Most Growth During This July
As Turespana’s figures point out, compared to a year ago, the markets that showed the most surge in July were led by Poland, with an increase of 34.7 per cent. Portugal and Italy followed, with growth rates of 23.3 per cent and 18.8 per cent, respectively.
At the same time, travellers from the United Kingdom contributed with 24.1 per cent of total arrivals in Spain, marking a year-on-year increase of 8.2 per cent. This growth positively impacted all regions, especially the Balearic and Canary Islands, which received 28.7 per cent and 20.1 per cent of British travellers, respectively.
“Passenger arrivals from Germany (14.2 per cent of the total) increased by 6.6 per cent, especially benefiting the Balearic Islands (48.4 per cent of passengers),” report issued by Turespana reads.
In July, there was also an increase in the number of social security affiliates related to tourism activities by 3.9 per cent compared to the same month of 2022, reaching 2,807,626 in total.
The data provided by the Spanish Ministry of Tourism also show that employment in the tourism sector accounts for 13.6 per cent of total branches in the national economy. However, in comparison to July 2019, which had 2,618,636 affiliates, this increase represents a growth of 7.2 per cent.
Tourism Employment Registers Best July in History with 2.8 Million Affiliates
Data also reveal that during June, there was a significant increase of 104,981 new employees who joined the workforce in absolute terms compared to the corresponding month of 2022.
Meanwhile, in the second quarter of 2023, the tourism sector witnessed an increase in employment, reaching 2,864,776 workers. This figure shows an increase of 5.4 per cent compared to the same period a year ago and a growth of 6.3 per cent compared to 2019.
Moreover, during the April-June period of this year, the field of tourism activities registered an increase of 146,678 employees compared to 2022, constituting a quarter of all jobs created in the Spanish economy, which amounted to a total of 589,000 jobs.
This means almost a quarter (24.9 per cent) of new positions created can be attributed to activities in the field of tourism.
On the other hand, in the second quarter of this year, the number of employees in the tourism sector exceeded three million, reaching 3,130,026 in total, representing an increase of six per cent compared to the year ago.
