Latest figures show that foreign visitors have spent an astounding €63 billion in Spain during the first eleven months of 2015.
Of the staggering €63 billion figure that was spent by foreign tourists in Spain last year, the report from the National Statistics Institute (INE) shows that over 20% (or €13.4 billion) came from British tourists, who spent an average €111 a day on their visits.
Though this was 10% up on the previous year, Brits still fall behind the daily spend of Germans and Italians, who average €117 spent per day. Overall, tourism spend for last year was up 6.4 per cent including November, which is traditionally one of the quieter months for holiday makers, keeping on trend with the €3.94 billion spent in that month indicating a rise of 4.4 per cent.
Though these figures are representative of Spain as a whole it comes as no surprise that the region of Andalucía, which is home to Marbella and the Costa del Sol, outdid the national average with €9.8 billion spent up until the end of November, signifying a substantial and encouraging rise of 10.8%.
Though these numbers highlight the importance of major European countries to the Spanish tourism industry, it seems that Spain’s popularity as a holiday destination with visitors from all around the world shouldn’t be underestimated. €31.24 billion was spent in 2015 by foreigners from outside Europe, averaging daily amount of €144.
Tourists from countries such as China, Japan, the USA, Russia and the Middle East nations were quite significantly some of the biggest spenders per head. These are the sort of patrons who are particularly attracted to Marbella, which is widely recognised as one of Spain’s leading destinations for luxury goods and services.
Last year Marbella boasted an impressive €1.5 billion turnover in the town’s high end shops and restaurants last year. This accounts for a quarter of the total luxury market in Spain, placing Marbella ahead of Madrid and just behind Barcelona in luxury turnover.
These impressive figures reflect a record year for the tourism industry in Spain and the accompanying spend is predicted to continue to rise through 2016.
A recent report from travel websiteTravelSupermarket.com showed that Spain now accounted for a third of all online destination searches, with the countries popularity supported by the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), who confirmed that Spain is set for another good year with bookings for the summer of 2016 already indicating a rise on recent years.
Marbella is a town that has demonstrated itself to be at the forefront of economic recovery over the past few years and, based on the unique ambience and lifestyle experience it offers, it seems that its popularity with holiday makers from all over the world is only set to increase.
