5 Nov, 2021 @ 12:01
1 min read

Spain predicts foreign tourists could return to pre-pandemic totals in 2022

Spain predicts foreign tourists could return to pre-pandemic numbers in 2022
October 20, 2021, Madrid, Madrid, Spain: The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, speaks in a session of control to the Government in the Congress of Deputies, on October 20, 2021, in Madrid, (Spain). In this plenary session, marked by the recent tenth anniversary of the end of the terrorist group ETA, the central Executive responds to questions from the opposition on whether its measures adopted in the social and economic field - what they called 'social shield' - during the pandemic did not leave anyone behind. Likewise, the General State Budgets 2022; a possible declaration of condemnation of the PP to ETA; and the security of the neighborhoods and cities of Spain, also mark this plenary session, the first after the agreement reached by the Government and the PP to update the expired constitutional bodies except the General Council of the Judiciary...20 OCTOBER 2021;ETA;CONGRESS;SESSION;PP;RENEW EXPIRED ORGANS..Eduardo Parra / Europa Press..10/20/2021 (Credit Image: © Eduardo Parra/Contacto via ZUMA Press)

SPAIN’S Tourism Minister, Reyes Maroto, has predicted that foreign visitor numbers could return to pre-pandemic levels next year.

Maroto made her forecast on the back of a surge in tourist figures for September.

Figures from the National Statistics Office showed almost 4.7 million international visitors to Spain- four times the admittedly low number recorded came in September 2020.

Germans made up the largest group of foreign travellers, followed by Britons and French visitors.

The figure was still well below the 8.8 million total recorded in September 2019.

Reyes Maroto said: “These figures confirm a reactivation of international tourism is underway and that in 2022 we could recover pre-pandemic levels.”

Maroto claimed that Spain’s natural tourist attractions and its high level of vaccination were helping to fuel the recovery in numbers.

She had previously predicted that figures for 2021 would be around half of 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

September tourist spending stood at €5.04 billion, almost half the €9.62 billion figure of two years earlier.

Spain had its usual big presence at this week’s World Travel Market in London with key tourist regions announcing publicity campaigns to woo UK visitors.

Reports from traditional holiday areas like Benidorm suggest a sharp rise in British tourists in October as UK COVID-testing rules were relaxed.

Image Credit: Cordon Press

READ MORE: COSTA BLANCA UNVEILS CAMPAIGN IN LONDON TO WOO BACK UK TOURISTS

Alex Trelinski

Alex worked for 30 years for the BBC as a presenter, producer and manager. He covered a variety of areas specialising in sport, news and politics. After moving to the Costa Blanca over a decade ago, he edited a newspaper for 5 years and worked on local radio.

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