Data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that in January 2020, Spain recovered about 60 per cent of international tourist arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic era. Meanwhile, in January 2021, the number of foreign visitors more than fivefold, when 2.5 million tourists arrived in Spain, increasing total expenditure by 516.7 per cent compared to a year ago.
The Minister for Industry, Trade, and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, said data published in January confirmed that the impact of the Omicron variant on tourism was smaller than expected. However, it still managed to slow down.
“While waiting to see how the war in Ukraine might affect tourist flows in the coming months, the Government of Spain is already working to find alternatives to a possible absence of Russian tourists this high season in our destinations most exposed to this market, such as Catalonia,” the Minister pointed out in this regard.
According to the government of Spain, differently from 2021, this year, the United Kingdom is being symbolised as the main source market, which means about 363,150 tourists from the UK visited Spain in January, representing an increase of 1,461.3 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Other countries from which most tourists come to Spain are France and Germany.
Meanwhile, the destination that has received the most international tourists is the Canary Islands. Their share of the total number of tourists is 30.06 per cent, followed by Catalonia with 463,661 tourists, which means 18.6 per cent of the total, and Andalusia, with 323,896 tourists or 13 per cent.
In terms of tourists’ nationality, those who travel mainly to the Canary Islands are primarily British and German. In addition, the average spending of tourists in January has exceeded the pre-pandemic levels.
(Source: SchengenVisaInfo)
