Cadiz claims four places in 'top 100' most important tourist destinations in Spain ranking

Andalucía's Cadiz province is in fashion as a holiday destination and this is not a subjective perception. The fact that one out of every three tourist accommodation projects presented after the coronavirus pandemic is in the province or that most major hotel chains are looking to expand in Cadiz is no coincidence.

This is highlighted in one of the most relevant reports on the tourism sector in Spain, the 'map of the social contribution of tourism' prepared by Spain's national tourism alliance Exceltur , in which the main companies in the international tourism sector are represented, and which analyses the weight of the different holiday destinations across the country.

It is a report in which Cadiz has taken on a bigger role, rising among the Spanish provinces with the greatest tourist relevance. Four municipalities in the province - Conil, Chiclana, Tarifa and Cádiz - have been included in the latest list of the 100 most important destinations in Spain.

The first to appear on the list is Conil , in 48th place, which by the end of 2022 had already reached the figure of 25,264 tourist accommodation places, of which 24.9% were in hotels; 30% in apartments , campsites and rural tourism and 45% in dwellings for tourist use on rental platforms. This activity generated a total of 2,404 jobs last year.

The next of the Cadiz municipalities in the ranking is Chiclana , which appears in 53rd place with 22,738 bed places (54.9% in hotels; 6.5% in apartments and 38.6% in dwellings), which generated 4,100 jobs.

Behind the town of Chiclana, in 64th place is Tarifa , the most touristy municipality in the Campo de Gibraltar. With 18,701 beds, of which only 19% are in hotels, it generates 2,137 jobs per year.

The last of the Cadiz towns to be included in this important 'top 100' is the capital city of the province . With 11,324 beds, 56% of which are tourist accommodation, Cádiz also generates 2,611 jobs.

In total the four locations offer more than 78,000 accommodation places that generated more than 11,200 jobs throughout the year 2022 related to the tourist sector.

In terms of provincial capitals in Spain, Cadiz is in 17th place.

The national ranking is headed by Madrid, followed by Barcelona, Benidorm (Alicante), San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria), Salou (Tarragona), Adeje (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Calviá (Mallorca), Marbella (Malaga), Arona (Tenerife) and Palma de Mallorca.

As for the Andalusian municipalities, in the 'top 100' of the most important in Spain we can find a total of 19 destinations: Marbella, Seville, Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Mijas, Granada, Estepona, Roquetas de Mar, Fuengirola, Conil, Chiclana, Tarifa, Nerja, Mojacar, Cordoba, Almuñecar, Vera and Cadiz.

This growth in the number of hotel beds available in the province of Cadiz has already been strongly felt in the first quarter of 2023, with an increase in the number of travellers compared to 2022. In the first four months of 2023, the province of Cadiz received 24% more travellers than in 2022.

According to the Hotel Tourism Situation Report prepared monthly by Spain's INE national institute of statistics, hotel establishments in the province of Cadiz received 23% more tourists between January and April 2023 than in the same period in 2022,

In addition, overnight stays in the first four months of the year also experienced a sharp rise, amounting to 1,564,988 so far in 2023, which is 20.37% more than in the same period of 2022.

However, it should be borne in mind that in these first four months of the year the hotel offer in the province amounted to only 31,598 beds, a figure that is increasing as the summer approaches, since many of the hotel establishments close for a large part of the winter.

Among the most striking figures are those for the month of April. The province's hotels registered 292,272 tourists during the month this year, compared to 240,758 last year. Two out of every three tourists staying in the province were Spanish. In terms of overnight stays, April 2023 was 110,000 more than April 2022, with 731,380 this year and 621,948 last year. This demand has been reflected in employment and in April this year hotel establishments in the province employed 900 more people than in April last year.