Marbella leads the way in tourism

MARBELLA is amongst the five Spanish towns which in 2010 led the way in generating tourism-related employment and profitability on rooms. Marbella is joined by Palma de Mallorca, San Bartolome de Tirajana (Gran Canaria), Benidorm and Adeje (Tenerife), according to the survey carried out by Exceltur amongst 105 towns, which was presented at the 14th Adeje International Tourism Forum.

In 2010, Palma de Mallorca created 23,469 tourism-related jobs, that is, in hotels, restaurants, leisure centres and commerce, while Marbella created 9,769.

Estepona, on the other hand, was the town to create the least jobs in the sector, with 2,575.

The vice-president of Exceltur, Jose Luis Zoreda, said that 2011 would be a good year for tourism, mainly due to the Arab crisis, but that it could not be said that the sector was on the way to recovery.

He also said that between 2001 and 2010, the tourism sector had lost €8,000m from the fall in tourism activities, although in 2010, almost 60 per cent of tourism businesses showed signs of recovery.

Picture Credit: Pablo Monteagudo