Yes, Culture Really is the Main Draw of Andalucía

Yes, Culture Really is the Main Draw of Andalucía

Andalucía continues to attract tourists

The new Spanish Cultural Heritage and Museums Chief of Spain, José Ramon Benítez said that people are flocking to Andalucía because of the cultural and heritage sites more so than the great weather.

Official data shows that cultural tourism was responsible for 28.8% of all the visits to the region in southern Spain across 2016, which marked the first year that “good weather” wasn’t the top dog in the fight.

Of course, the cultural aspects of the region are only enhanced by good weather, meaning that the weather is always going to be part of the reason people visit Andalucía. Even so, it’s impossible to deny that the region is home to some incredible sights that belong on any travel itinerary.

But what’s different? The history of Andalucía is of course rich, but it’s also ancient. The region offers no truly new attractions. Some data would suggest that the reputation the region has for being a popular property hunting ground and beach destination has increased interest in the culture of the region. The tourists coming to the area come from a wide global pool, and each tourist has their own opinions on what makes a holiday memorable.

The Chinese are Coming

Chinese tourist represent the largest tourist group in the world, and are known to be big spenders. That means that tourism bodies the world over are looking to attract them. Spain is yet to crack the top 20 tourist destinations for Chinese visitors, but this continues to change as the Spanish economy recovers and Chinese tourists are willing to be more adventurous.

Chinese tourists will typically travel as part of a large organised group, being taken from place to place without exploring much in between. The tours would usually bypass Spain, but now many Chinese holidaymakers are making independent trips and Spain is benefiting. The China Tourism Academy shows an increase of 60% in Chinese tourists travelling alone in 2016, and this group is coming to Spain.

Chinese tourists are also known for bypassing beach holidays, choosing instead to visit historical sites and cities. They tend to come during the low season to avoid the Spanish summer heat and to take advantage of Chinese New Year; when many Chinese middle-class workers get time away from work to go on vacation.

The Leading Attraction

The Chinese aren’t the only ones coming to the country. Spain is welcoming more British, German, French, Irish, and American travellers to Andalucía as destinations such as the Alcázar in Seville, the Alhambra in Grande, and the Mezquita in Córdoba report seeing an increase in tourism across recent years.

Other sights worth a look are the famous bridge in Ronda, Cádiz old town, and the bodegas and sherry trails of Jerez. Don’t forget about Malaga either, which is quickly garnering a reputation for being one of the most hip and happening cities in Spain.

There’s more to Andalucía than just fun in the sun, and now it looks like word has spread.

Andalucía Enjoys Bumper Year as Backdrop for Hollywood Blockbusters

Andalucía Enjoys Bumper Year as Backdrop for Hollywood Blockbusters

Films being made in Spain are on the up

Andalucía offers something beautiful and varied, which has resulted in it gaining quite the reputation as a backdrop for world-class movies and TV shows. Andalucía was the filming location as 1,336 TV shows and films across 2016.

This represents an increase of 10% on 2015 and is a sign of the status the region holds for being the Hollywood of Spain.

With this growth came a number of benefits to the region, as the official data from the tourism board of Andalucía shows the economy was boosted by €118 in 2016 thanks to all the TV and film shooting. Some 15,500 jobs – most of which were temporary – were also created.

Mint Media Capital director Neil Hudson confirmed that London Heist is being released by Lionsgate in the USA on the 11th July and being premiered in London on the 12th July and officially released 17th LONDON HEIST – is Now Available to Pre-order @ AMAZON http://Amazon.co.uk  http://tinyurl.com/y7ua63w7 .  London heist was filmed in Marbella and London and stars Craig Fairbrass as a notorious bank robber and gangster.

Andalucía councillor Francisco Javier Fernandez praised the city as becoming one of the leaders of cine-tourism. The success has been thanks to a collaboration with the Andalucía Film Commission.

The film industry has generated plenty of employment for the community and has stimulated the economy. Thanks to information from travel portals such as TripAdvisor, there has been an increase in the number of people searching for holidays in the areas where films and TV shows were filmed.

Andalucía served as the backdrop for major motion pictures and TV shows such as The Trip to Spain, Game of Thrones, and the Spanish adventure film Oro. Seville has become a popular destination due to the incredible sunlight, stunning architecture, and the willingness of the city council to welcome big budge

t productions.

Moving beyond Seville, the mountainous terrains of Andalucía make it a prime choice for a range of genres and styles of TV shows and films, from historical productions to futurist ones.

http://mintmediacapital.com/eis.html

Andalucía Tourism Figures Grow 15% in January

Andalucía Tourism Figures Grow 15% in January

According to the latest data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), the number of overseas visitors heading to Andalucía – which, along with Malaga, comprises the provinces of Huelva, Cádiz, Sevilla, Jaén, Granada, Córoba, and Almeria – was up by a massive 15% in January of this year compared to the same period in 2016, while there was also an 11% increase in visits from Spanish nationals.

More records are broken again in Spain

Of all the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, Andalucía saw the largest increase by far, with a 7.7% increase in the Canary Islands, and a slight decrease of 1.8% for Catalonia. Andalucía welcomed over 13% of the 3.9million holidaymakers entering Spain from overseas in January. The Brits were the bulk of these tourists, with 25.2% of all tourists (521,116 visitors) coming from Britain, while 9.7% of the tourists were from Scandinavia.

As record-breaking as 2016 was, tourism professionals are confident that these numbers prove 2017 will be another landmark year for the country.

Over Two Thirds of the Property Sold to Foreign Investors in Andalucía Are on Costa Del Sol

Over Two Thirds of the Property Sold to Foreign Investors in Andalucía Are on Costa Del Sol

The demand for the Costa del Sol keeps increasing

which good news for the whole region

A recent report from the Spanish Ministry of Development found that 7 out of the 10 Andalucía properties sold to foreign buyers during the first six months of the year were in Málaga.

A report published by the Spanish Ministry of Development showed that between January and July 2016, 70% of the properties in Andalucía sold to foreign buyers were in Málaga, which is the home of the Costa del Sol. This works out at 4,978 transactions, which is a 16.9% increase compared to this same period of time in 2015.

At the regional level there was a total increase in foreign purchasers in Andalucía of 18.9%, up from the 5,973 property transactions across the first six months of 2015 to a total of 7,105 sold in the same period for 2016.

The other Andalusian provinces are falling behind Malaga when it comes to properties sold to foreign buyers. Almería saw 797 real estate transactions registered, which was an increase of 33.7% for the first semester of 2015. Granada had an increase of 13.9% with 409 sales; Cádiz had an increase of 4.6% to 405 transactions; Sevilla had an increase of 47.1% to 262 transactions; Huelva had an increase of 23.5% for 126 transactions; Jaén saw an increase of 49% for 79 transactions; and Córdoba came in last place in terms of transactions with an increase of 16.6% for 49 transactions.

Andalucia plans to attract golfers from Scotland

Andalucía plans to attract golfers from Scotland

The South Coast is also known as Costa del Golf. However, it is known so because of a reason! This coast boasts of some of the best golf courses and golf property for sale and is known to attract a few million golfers from all over the world yearly. The most famous golf courses in Andalucía include San Roque, La Zagaleta and the Royal Valderrama, which suddenly shot into limelight as it is set to host the Spanish Open during April.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports in Spain and Andalucía, in a bid to promote the golf courses of its country, attended the Scottish golf show held in Glasgow, to showcase the best golf courses Andalucía has to offer to golfers.

In the event held between March 18^th to 20^th, the Ministry was able to promote the golf courses and facilities available in Andalucía, thereby attracting a significant number of golfers from Scotland.

This show saw several exhibitors from all over the world showcasing their courses and attracting golfers. It also showcased the largest driving range, which is one of a kind and located in Scotland. The Professional Golfers’ Association operates this and as a part of the show, several professionals of PGA participated and gave lessons about golf throughout the show. This show saw an attendance of 18,000 people and the numbers are expected to increase this year.

The show organizer of last year, Tom Lovering stated that the Scottish Golf Show turned out to be one of the most successful and comfortable consumer golf show held in UK and they continued to conduct the event in a much larger scale attracting more participants next year.

A total of 450,000 visitors came to the hundred odd golf courses in Andalucía during 2014, which saw a growth of 1.3% when compared to the past year. The growth turned out to be the highest for this year and ever since 2010, the cumulative growth stood at 7%, making it a healthy growth.

Golfers who come to Andalucía stay for an average of 11.9 days, which is three days more than an average tourist who visits this country. Also, they end up spending more, contributing to the economy due to tourism. Their average spending went up by 2.6% in 2014 and the average spending per day per person stood at 88.43 Euros. This is 30 Euros more than the average spending of an individual in Andalucía, thereby pumping in more revenues to the economy of Andalucía.

Buying golf property in Andalucía will continue to be a fantastic investment for buy to let or as a second or holiday home.

Andalucian Airports in Spain see a record growth in passenger traffic!

Andalucían Airports in Spain see a record growth in passenger traffic!

The year 2016 is seeing a major boost to the number of tourists visiting Andalucía and the numbers just seemed to increase in February too!

Malaga Airport

All the airports combined of Andalucía saw a total of 1,243,314 passengers flying in a total of 14,760 flights in February. Compared to the previous year, the number of tourists has jumped up by 16.2%, with the count being 2,374,543 passengers.

Malaga

The statistics revealed by Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA), Malaga was the busiest airport in the region during the first two months of 2016 and the total traffic was 1,527,221 passengers. This is a 15.7% rise when compared to the passengers it handled in the last year during the same period.

A total of 12,646 registered flights operated in the Malaga area, making it the highest for this region. Also, this indicated a growth of 11.9% when compared to last year.

As per officials from the Costa del sol Malaga airport, the airport continues to attract more traffic and the trends have been the same since the end of 2015. Overall, the passenger traffic went up by 17.8% and the number of flights operated increased by 14.5% when compared to the statistics of previous year.

Other Regional Airports

Seville stood at the second position which handled 599,541 passengers, making it the second busiest airport. The rise compared to previous year was 15.5% and the number of flights operated increased by 3.3% over the past year, making it handle a total of 6,355 recorded flights.

Granada Jaen or Fedrico Garcia Lorca saw 107,734 being handled, which was a 12% increase and Almeria airport handled 78,484 passengers,  registering a whopping growth of 35.4%.

In the case of Jerez de la Frontera or Cadiz, the increase was 21.3%, attracting passenger traffic of 60,137. However, only Cordoba was the airport in Andalucia to report a fall of passengers handled by 3.4%, taking the count to 876 passengers.

Passengers

A high number of passengers took commercial flights, accounting for 790,747 of the total passengers. The increase in international travelers was 16.8% when compared to the statistics of 2015.

Domestic flights accounted for 146,834 passengers, which represents a 21.7% increase in the number of travelers. The domestic flights operated in Spain also went up by 17.9%.

UK attracted the largest number of international passengers and the count stood at 226,819. Germany stood second with a total of 68,753 passengers, while Netherland came third with 46,908 passengers.

 2016 looks set to be a record year for holiday makers and northern Europeans looking to buy property in the Costa del Sol.

Costa-del-Sol-Malaga-airport-sees-record-growth

Go-Ahead to Build Largest Leisure Park in Andalucía Given by Torremolinos

Go-Ahead to Build Largest Leisure Themed Park in Andalucía Given by Torremolinos.

Leisure park to be built near the Torremolinos water Park

Torremolinos council gave the green light to build the largest leisure park in Andalucía this past Tuesday when the town planning regulations (PGOU) received almost unanimous approval.

The giant leisure park will be built and developed by Intu Properties and will house shops, restaurants in Spain, a dry ski slope, and a large pool with surf waves. The area chosen to host the park is the area between the Palacio de Congresos and the motorway.

The leisure park project is expected to receive direct investments of up to 650 million euros. It is also expected to receive another 550 million euros through indirect investments. The construction of the park will open up 4,000 new jobs, with a further 3,000 jobs created through indirect employment.

This brand new leisure and shopping complex also gives good news for the Torremolinos council. The council is expected to receive 20 million euros from Intu Properties through the building license and other related fees. This is equal to roughly one fifth of the entire annual budget for the town. The park is also expected to generate 3 million euros through property taxes.

The park was part of the new planning regulations that were approved last Tuesday. All parties involved except for Izquierda Unida because if environmental concerns,  voted in favour of the new PGOU. This marks the first time in 20 years the opposition parties voted in favour of a new PGOU. The vote also finally ended the decade long planning stalemate the town had been suffering through.

The new PGOU includes more than just the park. The town centre will be pedestrianised, and cycle lanes and a river park will be constructed. The plan is to also create more green areas overall. Torremolinos also has plans to improve and enhance their Sierra.