Tourism weighs more than ever on the Spanish economy. With a combination of high demand, rising prices and job creation, the sector has established itself as the country's great engine, capable of generating 186,596 million euros of activity in 2023, indicates the latest business balance sheet from Exceltur, the entity that It brings together the main companies in the industry. The figure represents 12.8% of GDP, a historical maximum for the sector –see graph–. “This is 70.8% of the real growth of the gross domestic product” in 2023, highlighted José Luis Zoreda, executive vice president of the association, in the presentation of the report this Wednesday.
Neither economic uncertainty, nor the rise in rates nor the increase in the cost of flights and hotels have stopped the travel euphoria. Tourism entrepreneurs explain the phenomenon by a preeminence of travel in the consumption patterns of families and the organization of corporate events, an impulse that they predict will be maintained during 2024. If these estimates are met, tourism would increase its preeminence in the economy of the country even more, with an activity generation of more than 200,000 million euros, 13.4% of GDP.
The beginning of the year seems to support these forecasts. Sales for the first quarter are 9.7% above the same period in 2023. By destination, the Levantine coast (12.1% of sales), Andalusia (8.5%), the Balearic Islands (8.9% ) Canary Islands (8.2%), Madrid and Barcelona (6.0%) lead the growth.
But not everything is rosy. Businessmen have expressed some fear that the sector will die of success. The overcrowding suffered by certain destinations has fueled social rejection of tourists and their externalities: inconvenience, rising housing prices, gentrification and loss of neighborhood identity. A problem that Exceltur relates to the enormous growth of illegal tourist apartments in Spain and the laxity with which the platforms that offer them act.
The entity has proposed to face this challenge and “manage success in another way, to be socially sustainable,” Zoreda highlighted. The objective, she maintained, should not be to break visitor records year after year, but rather to generate more value and have this impact on society as a whole. Until November 2023 – December data has not yet been published – 79.8 million foreign tourists arrived in Spain, 0.8% above 2019.
The change in model, the companies maintain, has already begun to be observed this last year. Companies attribute investments in product improvement to attracting customers willing to spend and more respectful of the country they visit. They also highlight an increase in average spending at the destination of 14.0%, with hardly any aggregate increase in influx (2.3% in overnight stays). The notable increase in tourists from long-distance and higher-spending markets –mainly Americans, wealthy Latin Americans and Asians in the last quarter– has contributed to this, as well as the growing positioning towards higher spending profiles in traditional European markets.
The growth pattern that the sector must now seek is that of greater added value, Exceltur abounds, with greater income, without increasing the number of visitors even further. The only way not to die of success.
