Andalucía expects more and bigger-spending tourists this summer

More income generated by tourism, more tourists, more overnight stays and more tourism-related jobs. This is the snapshot from the Andalusian tourism sector's expectations for this summer (July to September) as presented by the region's minister for tourism, Arturo Bernal, this Monday in Cadiz.

After predicting an "excellent summer for tourism", he outlined the data that support this assertion and consolidate the strategy of growing more in revenue than in passenger arrivals. Specifically, the expected increase in visitor spending is double that of visitors arriving during the busiest period of the year for the tourism industry.

Bernal announced that they expect to reach nine billion euros in revenue, 3.1% more than in the summer of 2024 and that they expect 12.8 million travellers to visit Andalusian destinations, which represents a growth of 1.5% over the previous year. He also noted that "we are maintaining our domestic market share with a total of 8.5 million tourists, up 0.5%, and we have increased our number of foreign visitors by 5% to 4.3 millions."

These figures have also boosted job creation that, in the most optimistic scenario, is estimated to reach 501,000 workers, meaning 6.4% more than in 2024. "Tourism always brings good news to Andalucía and, thanks to our commitment to a sustainable model, we are achieving good results measured in revenue and employment," stated Bernal.

Furthermore, the region's tourism minister provided new indicators, such as the index that measures tourist concentration throughout the year, which has been reduced from 0.27 to 0.12 over the last four years, with zero being the best result.

"Our concentration index at the end of 2024 was three times lower than that of the Balearic Islands. We are managing to spread tourists throughout the year and better manage the reception capacity of municipalities", he added. He then noted that: "these figures are milestones that place Andalucía as a sustainable destination, growing faster in revenue and employment than in visitor arrivals."

In terms of hotel overnight stays, Bernal also reported record-high results, reaching 20.7 million stays, 2.7% more than in 2024, which is 600,000 more. Breaking it down by province, while Malaga remains the driving force of Andalusian tourism, statistics show that, after Huelva, it will experience the least growth with a 1.6% increase in hotel nights booked, surpassing 7.5 million stays.

Bernal stressed that widespread growth is expected across all eight provinces and he highlighted the strong performance of the inland provinces. "Cordoba and Jaen will register growth above the Andalusian average. We are managing to extend tourist activity in summer beyond the coast and this allows more areas to benefit from tourist activity," he insisted.

Key to these positive expectations is the improvement in connectivity. The regional minister pointed out that Andalusian airports are expected to close this summer with the arrival of more than 35,600 flights, a 5.5% increase, offering 6.3 million seats.

These figures represent a 5.8% increase compared to the same period last year. "In this context, the 11.4% increase in seats from the United Kingdom is noteworthy. The recovery of this market is already a reality and our air connectivity strategy is yielding results", he stressed.