After years of boom , Spain tries to turn its tourist model towards another one of less quantity but more quality: less tourists arrive but those who come spend more. In the middle of the tourist season, the prospects are good, as an increase of 1.7% in the arrival of international visitors and 3.2% in spending is expected , according to EL MUNDO Isabel Oliver, Secretary of State for Tourism.

This, the expense, "is the data that really should matter to us because it reflects the profitability of the sector, which continues to grow month by month, which together with good employment data show the strength of tourism," said the responsible.

Spanish tourism wants to lose sight of the umbrella, shake off the dandruff that gave off the stamp of the beaches full of people where there was no needle. The profitability of the sector grows but more slowly. Revenue per room grew 1.9% until April to reach an average annual value of 49.5 euros, while employment grew 2.5%, according to Exceltur data.

"A notable disparity is consolidated between the good behavior of urban destinations and the fall that is beginning to be appreciated in holidaymakers and especially in those dependent on touroperatized foreign demand," Exceltour notes.

The tourism sector "has made a great investment effort to increase the quality of the facilities and specialize its offer" so that its competitiveness against other Mediterranean destinations is not based on price, "say from the Tourism Board.

The private sector effort is being titanic. And along the way, traditional tourism entrepreneurs are found new allies in investment funds or socimis, interested in the potential of the sector if their profitability is optimized. Therefore, in the last five years, the financial sectors , the funds and the socimis that have been involved in some of these projects have invested 13,669 million in the hotel sector. And this year, the planned investment is 5,000 million, almost double that of last year .

The hotel sector "is diversifying its offer with new establishments in Spanish cities, while renewing those found in sun and beach destinations," says Germán Porras , general secretary of the Tourism Board, who claims that in this renovation and This investment effort should be supported by public investment in services and infrastructure in mature destinations.

The change is taking place thanks to this effort and the sample is that there is less interest in sun and beach destinations and more in alternative ones. «The trend of falling interest in the sun and beach compared to other products remains. In this case, the increased interest in the gastronomic product, both in general and for each of the markets, stands out clearly, ”says Interface Tourism Spain.

The typology of the tourist that arrives in our cities and coasts also says a lot about the model we want. The United Kingdom is our main issuing market, more focused on sun and beach destinations, but in recent months the arrival of visits has fallen due to the uncertainties of Brexit and the fall of the pound, which makes the British have less purchasing power than before when they arrive in Spain.

"Has tourism reached a ceiling at the number of visitors?" It may be that in some specific areas or destinations a certain saturation point has been reached, but that does not mean that the tourism industry has reached a ceiling. The sector can continue to grow and generate more wealth to the country by redefining the model towards a more qualitative than quantitative one that generates more wealth for local economies and residents, ”they say in Interface Tourism.

This process has already been initiated by many destinations in the country, fleeing the basic good weather and low prices, although «it is a long-term job but destinations such as Lloret de Mar, Benidorm, Salou, Cambrils, Lanzarote, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, Region Murcia and many others have already started based on advanced data analytics and strategic decision making in this regard, this change ».

Within this process of changing the model, the Madrid hotel association emphasizes that in the case of the capital, meeting tourism is one of the most relevant and profitable assets. In fact, Madrid ranks third in the ICCA 2018 ranking (International Congress & Convention Association).

Despite the return of competing destinations that were in the doldrums (Tunisia, for fear of attacks, for example) or the doubts that Brexit Spain raises "remains a competitive destination", precisely because of the effort the sector is making for turning the model, says the secretary of state.

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