Spain’s tourism budget increases funding compared to last year

IN the first four months of this year €9.5 billion was added to the Spanish tourism sector’s budget. This marks a 2.1 per cent increase in funding compared to the first quarter of last year. 

According to statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE) tourists spent €15.5 billion in the first quarter of this year demonstrating a 4.8 per cent increase on the same period in 2018. Some 21.4 million tourists visited Spain from January to April.

The revenue is staggered due to the sporadic nature of tourism in Spain. In January the tourism revenue actually fell by over 2 per cent but it regained momentum in February when the festival season comes back to life with Valentine’s Day and the Santa Agueda Women’s Festival.

An 8 per cent rise in the number of short term rentals including rural tourism, campsites, hotels and hostels means that the likelihood of these figures rising exponentially in the future is high.