Malaga tourists: big spenders

MALAGA city is attracting tourists with more spending power than the rest of the Costa del Sol, according to the local Tourism Observatory.

Fifty per cent of the tourists who visited the city last year spend more than €90 per day, while a further 30 per cent claimed to have spent more than €120 per day. This puts the average expenditure of visitors to the city up to €74.6 per day, well above the average of €50.4 per day for the rest of the province.

Spanish visitors tend to spend more on average than foreigners, with a daily expenditure of €196, mostly spend on cultural trips (61.6 per cent) and shopping (56.6 per cent), compared to the €75.65 spent by foreign tourists per day. Of the 3.4 million visitors to the city last year spent €578 million, which is €15 million more than in 2009, Malaga Tourism Councillor said.

Fifty-two per cent of tourists visiting the city are foreigners, most of whom chose Malaga for its cultural offer. Approximately half of the city’s visitors planned their trip more than two months in advance, and 49 per cent used the internet to do so. The study also shows that the number of people visiting the city is distributed almost equally throughout the year.

Tourists who choose to visit the city are younger than the average visitors to the Costa del Sol, at 47.5, compared to 52 years old.

On a scale of one to 10, visitors to Malaga give the city an average of 7.95. Eight-one per cent claims to have been ‘highly satisfied’, the same percentage claims they would want to return soon, and almost 100 per cent says they would recommend the city to family and friends. Just over 24 per cent claimed they were visiting the city based on the recommendation of friends or relatives.

Almost 68 per cent of foreign tourists visiting Malaga last year were coming for the first time, while 11.5 per cent said it was their second time. Most of the visitors (24.5 per cent) were from the UK, followed by the French (17.4 per cent), Germans (16.2 per cent) and Italians (8.5 per cent).

Foreign visitors tend to stay longer in the city, with an average of 4.9 days, compared to the 3.25 days on average for residents in Spain. Most (70 per cent) prefer to stay in hotels, and only 18.3 per cent of them are travelling alone. A higher percentage (90 per cent) of Spanish tourists prefers to stay in hotels.

Meanwhile, other tourist destinations along the coast, such as Benalmadena and Marbella, have reported that the British and German markets are recovering, while Spanish tourists are also deciding to remain on the peninsula for their holidays.