MORE than 74 million foreign visitors came to Spain last year.
The figure, released by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, is thought to be 4% more than the previous year and breaks all previous records.
‘More than 74, probably 75 million international travellers have come to Spain’ in 2016, the Madrid-based body’s secretary general, Taleb Rifai, told a news conference.
Spain’s world ranking for its number of foreign visitors will be confirmed when the final tallies are released on January 17.
But Rifai rejected the idea that Spain benefited from security fears in rival holiday hotspots.
He said Spain did well because it is ‘doing the right thing’ in terms of how it promotes itself as a destination and welcomes visitors.
Foreign visitors spent €60 billion in the country last year, making a major contribution to the economy.
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Taleb Rifai lives in a fools paradise if he really believes the security situation in other destinations has nothing to do with the surge in visits to Spain. Lying is becoming the norm for politicians and bureaucrats.
Quite agree with you on this one stefanjo. Other holiday destinations have collapsed due to terrorist activities and all it needs is some nut case with a gun on a beach in Spain.
the man is a cacooned idiot
He said Spain did well because it is ‘doing the right thing’ in terms of how it promotes itself as a destination and welcomes visitors.
Hmmm, if sitting back, watching terrorist attacks in all the other Med summer destinations, and not being attacked yourself is ‘doing the right thing’. Then yes, I completely concur with Mr Rifai..
Why the toxic comments? This is starting to feel like a Spanish version of the Daily Mail. If it’s good, criticise it. If it’s bad, criticise it. Whatever is written, criticise it.
Its a news report, it gets a PR generated response written by somebody probably called Felicity who just came back from a press lunch. Like most things. What are you seriously expecting the comment to be? Take a chill pill for goodness sake. It’s good PR, nothing more. Save your criticism for something worth the effort. #justsaying