Viva España! With 7.4% more international tourists, Spain remains top summer destination
Glorious rays of warm sunshine, golden beaches, superb culture and laid back living are ubiquitous features of Spanish tourism and the industry seems to have fared well as figures released by the Frontier Tourist Movement (FRONTUR) reveal that Spain has received 7.4% more international tourists this year compared to the same time in 2010.
Around 32.3 million international tourists visited Spain between January and July of this year with July alone welcoming 7.5 million foreign tourists with the main markets up to July being the UK, with 7.4 million passengers (35.8%), Germany with 4.2 million (20%) and Italy with 2.2 million (10.7%), while the highest registered increases to Spanish shores in July were from Sweden (40.8%), France (31.6%), and the Netherlands (28.9%).
Indeed, up to July 2011 Spanish airports received nearly 36.5 million passengers, of which 4.4 million arrived on budget airlines, while 43% (15.7 million) opted for a regular airline, with the busiest budget airlines being Ryanair which experienced a 25% increase in air traffic to Spain in July as well as easyJet and Air Berlin who together with Ryanair transported 54.1% of passengers in the month.
With this in mind, the influx of passenger numbers to Spain has of course impacted on hotel occupancy with rates 3 points higher in July than the same period in 2010 according to research firm Magma Turismo.
The study highlights that in July this year hotel occupancy for the Costa del Sol reached 87% compared to 82% in 2010 while the Balearic Islands stood at 85% compared to only 79% last year. Meanwhile, Canary Island hotels experienced a 4% growth from last year standing at 76% while the Costa Brava also increased slightly to 76%.
Of course, the hotel rates reflect the popularity of one of the more traditionally popular regions of Spain, the golden coastal strip of the Costa del Sol in the Malaga province which lures in the largest number of foreign tourists seeing 6.3 million flock to the glittering shores last year according to figures issued by the Tourism Board.
Nick Stuart, Managing Director of Spain’s first and premier internet estate agency, Spanish Hot Properties founded in 2007, comments,
“Of all the tourists who chose to holiday in the Costa del Sol, around 72% said they were attracted mainly by the prospect of sun and sand which will come as no shock considering the regions exceptional climate, luxurious lifestyle, spectacular scenery, state of the art infrastructure, hi-tech communications, availability of low cost direct flights and top healthcare. It is one of only a small number of places in the world where you can spend a morning skiing on the Sierra Nevada slopes and the afternoon soaking up the sun on a beautiful beach.
"Hailed as the ´California of Europe´, the Costa del Sol is an area where the demand for property is proportional to the quality of life and has a strong and proven property market. We have seen a huge surge in demand for luxury homes in Spain worth up to £20 million with 60% of our high- end properties being sold costing between €1.2 – 2.5 million with a large proportion looking for tasteful properties located away from the centre of holiday towns along the Costa del Sol.”
Operating across Spain, Spanish Hot Properties offer something for everyone with a choice of over 15,000 properties from high quality studio apartments to multi-million pound luxury mansions.
Doncella Beach situated right on the shore-line of the beautiful blue waters of the Costa del Sol consists of 85 exquisite apartments and penthouses in 7 elegant buildings with facilities including a Jacuzzi, Turkish bath, sauna, special aroma-therapy showers, gym, yoga room and solarium deck by the effortlessly chic pool bar priced from €799,000 for a 2 bed, €1.6 million for a 3 bed penthouse and €3.5 million for a 5 bed luxury penthouse, quite simply the most luxurious penthouses in Spain.
For more information on purchasing a piece of Spanish heaven on the forever popular Costa del Sol please contact Spanish Hot Properties on 00 44 207 558 8355 or visit www.spanishhotproperties.com.