Arab Spring proves boon for Spain
The popular uprisings in north Africa are proving to be a bonus for Spain’s battered tourism industry, following its downturn in the economic crisis. David Ing reports “It’s a pleasure to be able to give good news,” said Sebastian Escarrer, president of Exceltur, the Spanish tourism industry’s main lobby group, while acknowledging that the recovery was mainly due to the ‘ill fortune’ of some of its main competitors. Escarrer, who is also vice-president of Spain’s biggest holiday hotel chain, Sol Melia, said the improvements were already showing up in the GDP figures for the tourism sector. The first quarter of 2011 produced a 2.4-per-cent rise compared with the same period a year earlier, and up from the 1.7-per-cent increase registered for the last quarter of 2010. This showed tourism was growing more than three times faster than the 0.7 per cent registered by the Spanish economy as a whole, he said. The main region to benefit so far from the knock-on effects of the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia has been Spain’s own premier winter sun destination, the Canary Islands. But, Spanish domestic tourism is still sorely affected by the economic downturn, added Escarrer: “It’s not growing because of the deterioration in available income and it’s not going to recover this year.” Exceltur is calling on the government for a meeting with the sector to discuss what is still the country’s leading product, sun and beach holidays, which still needs to recuperate. The group’s executive president, Jose Luis Zoreda, said ‘billions of euros are needed to renovate the Spanish coasts’. One area where the government is already making moves to attract more foreigners is aimed at kick-starting sales of holiday homes. As this has been the worst-hit sector in the recent property crash, Development Minister José Blanco is personally spearheading a roadshow that will take in major European buyer markets including Germany, France and Russia, starting with the UK in May. Just over 30 per cent of foreign home buyers in Spain in 2009 were from the UK.
The popular uprisings in north Africa are proving to be a bonus for Spain’s battered tourism industry, following its downturn in the economic crisis. David Ing reports
“It’s a pleasure to be able to give good news,” said Sebastian Escarrer, president of Exceltur, the Spanish tourism industry’s main lobby group, while acknowledging that the recovery was mainly due to the ‘ill fortune’ of some of its main competitors. Escarrer, who is also vice-president of Spain’s biggest holiday hotel chain, Sol Melia, said the improvements were already showing up in the GDP figures for the tourism sector.
The first quarter of 2011 produced a 2.4-per-cent rise compared with the same period a year earlier, and up from the 1.7-per-cent increase registered for the last quarter of 2010. This showed tourism was growing more than three times faster than the 0.7 per cent registered by the Spanish economy as a whole, he said.
The main region to benefit so far from the knock-on effects of the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia has been Spain’s own premier winter sun destination, the Canary Islands. But, Spanish domestic tourism is still sorely affected by the economic downturn, added Escarrer: “It’s not growing because of the deterioration in available income and it’s not going to recover this year.”
Exceltur is calling on the government for a meeting with the sector to discuss what is still the country’s leading product, sun and beach holidays, which still needs to recuperate. The group’s executive president, Jose Luis Zoreda, said ‘billions of euros are needed to renovate the Spanish coasts’.
One area where the government is already making moves to attract more foreigners is aimed at kick-starting sales of holiday homes. As this has been the worst-hit sector in the recent property crash, Development Minister José Blanco is personally spearheading a roadshow that will take in major European buyer markets including Germany, France and Russia, starting with the UK in May. Just over 30 per cent of foreign home buyers in Spain in 2009 were from the UK.