Over 2 million international tourists

MORE than 2 million foreign tourists have visited the Valencia Region from January to May this year.

The figure is a 7.1 per cent increase compared to the same period last year according to the Frontier Tourist Movement Survey (Frontur) released by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

Among the autonomous communities, the Canaries saw the largest annual increase (13.1 per cent) with the arrival of 4.8 million foreign tourists, followed by Catalonia with an increase of 8 per cent.

Nationally, Spain received 21.4 million foreign tourists until May, representing an increase of 8.2 per cent over the same period in 2012.

 In the first five months of the year almost all major emitting countries contributed to this growth, particularly Britain and France with increases of 6.9 per cent and 11.1 per cent, respectively.

The German market, Belgian, Netherlands and the Nordic countries also saw an increase in the number of tourists visiting the Region.