MADRID, Sept 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – For the first time ever, Spain welcomed over 10 million foreign tourists in July, as the tourism sector completed its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) said, yesterday.
The INE’s “Tourist Movements at Borders” (Frontur) study shows that, 10.1 million foreign tourists visited Spain during the month, 11.4 percent more than in Jul, 2022, and 2.6 percent more than in 2019, the year that saw the previous record for visitor numbers.
Tourist spending was also up, 16.4 percent more than in 2022, and 16 percent up on four years ago.
In the first seven months of this year, 47.6 million foreigners visited Spain, almost 21 percent more than in 2022, but 0.8 percent fewer than in 2019. Tourist spending between Jan and Jul was up 14.7 percent.
The United Kingdom continues to be Spain’s biggest source market, with 9.8 million Britons visiting the country in the first seven months of the year, followed by 6.4 million French citizens and six million Germans. The number of visitors increased by 28.9 percent from the United States, 18.5 percent from Portugal and 17.8 percent from Italy.
The INE registered a 49.9 percent increase in the number of tourists from the “rest of the world.” This latter figure includes Chinese travellers.
Spain’s acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Hector Gomez, welcomed the results, saying that, “for the first time we exceeded 10 million travellers in July, accompanied by extraordinary levels of tourist spending, which show the potential of Spain as a quality, attractive and sustainable destination for the world.”– NNN-XINHUA
