Andalucía expected to draw 30 million tourists in 2018

Around 30 million visitors are expected to visit Andalucía in 2018, according to a recent presentation at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in Madrid.

The forecast would represent another record year for tourism in the region, which includes the Costa del Sol, with an increase of 4.5% from figures in 2017.

Presented by Susana Díaz, president of the Junta de Andalucía, the figures are a welcome boost. Significant funds have already been invested into hotel renovations and new developments, as well as to infrastructure improvements along the coast and the area is well prepared to accommodate the surge in figures. Malaga airport has also announced several additional routes to and from Malaga creating further access to the region.

Spain has not only recovered from its financial struggles after the economic crash in 2008, blessed with the warmest year-round climate in Europe, it has emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations globally, recently de-throning the US as the 2nd most visited country in the world.

Majorca and Catalonia remain the most visited regions in Spain, but have recently experienced protests and opposition to the influx in tourism figures resulting in limits to new hotel developments. Andalucía has yet to see such a response and still view tourism as “an opportunity, a source of wealth, employment and wellbeing” according to Díaz.

Andalucía welcomed 29.5 million visitors over the course of 2017, one of the sharpest rises in tourism since 2016. Blessed with one of the warmest year-round climates in all of Spain, the region is primed and ready to remain and further position itself as one of the most visited and loved tourist destinations in the world.