Spain welcomes back spenders as tourist arrivals increase drastically

Spain recorded four million tourist arrivals in March, which is more than eight times as many as the one recorded last year. This figure was taken from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) after most Covid-related restrictions were lifted.

Data showed that while on holiday in the country in March, foreign tourists spent $5.37 billion which is way beyond the $580 million a year earlier.

Nevertheless, the number of tourists visiting the country in March was still 1.6 million less than the number of tourists who arrived in March 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Back then, the amount spent by tourists was $6.4 billion.

It can be recalled that, not only in Spain, international travel restrictions related to Covid-19 brought the country’s economic tourism sector down to its knees in 2020. Tourism accounted for 12 percent of Spain’s economy before the pandemic.

A gradual industry recovery started in 2021, which paused momentarily when the rapid spread of the Omicron variant paved the way for a new round of temporary travel restrictions.

Source: https://skift.com/2022/05/05/spain-welcomes-back-big-spenders-as-tourist-arrivals-jumped-8-fold-in-march/

Author: Deb Davad