Turkey’s Hotel Association Declares Spain Biggest Winner as Germans Head to the Costas

Turkey’s Hotel Association Declares Spain Biggest Winner as Germans Head to the Costas

With uncertainty around the world, tourists

continue to head to safe havens  of the Costa Del Sol 

The terrorism and political strife affecting Turkey is causing Germany holidaymakers to avoid the country according to TÜROB; the Hotel Association of Turkey. The benefactor of all of this has been Spain.

TÜROB say that bookings for holidays in Turkey from German tourists has dropped by 58% across the past 12 months, with holiday makers heading for Spain to enjoy the relative safety and sun.

Even though Turkish holiday resorts haven’t been hit by the same terrorist attacks as Tunisia in 2015, there is still plenty of concern about general security, with several attacks across the past 12 months in Istanbul, a failed coup during last summer, and an government on the verge of becoming a dictatorship.

Holidaymakers from Britain and Ireland have already been put off, which boosted the Spanish tourism sector to record numbers as people began to avoid Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, and Greece to a lesser degree.

The Turkish hotelier has begun to notice that the bookings from Germany are also on the downswing. 2014 saw a peak of 3.9 million holidaymakers from Germany. The figure dropped to less than 2.5 million last year, and it’s expected numbers will fall again in 2017.

TÜROB prisdent Timur Bayindr commented that German bookings in Spain are quite high, there has been a sharp decline in the Turkish and Egyptian market. If there is a winner to be seen in this game then it is undoubtedly Spain.

Bayindir added Turkey expects that arrivals from the other EU nations – such as Spain, France, Belgium, and Austria – will continue to fall. However, he does expect a potential increase in tourism from Russia, Iran, and the Middle East.

The Germans have had a long-standing love of Spain, especially Majora. German tourists also tend to be the biggest spenders and stay longer than tourists from other European nations, making them great for the Spanish tourism business.

The Costas Have Everything; Including snow!

The Costas Have Everything; Including snow!

Last weeks Snow in the Costa del Sol

The idea of 320 days of sunshine is part of the mythos of the Costa del Sol; the idea that you get almost endless sunny days, which only serves to enhance the natural beauty of the region.

Of course, having 320 days of sunshine begs the question of what happens during the other 45 days of the year. The answer is pretty easy. Winter in the Costas is a little fresher than summer, and it does bring some clouds with it that can block out the sun.

The weather in the southern regions of Spain is hardly predictable except for a few things that are certain; there will be two or three heavy deluges; there will be unseasonable warmth, and there will be an occasional biting wind from the sea.

Snow, on the other hand, is very rare. There could be the odd bit of snow on top of the mountains behind the resorts in January, but Malaga hasn’t seen snow on the ground in decades especially Marbella.

There’s a chance this could all change this year. Spain is in the middle of the coldest winter in over 35 years, with temperatures in the Pyrenees mountains reaching -15 Celsius. They Pyrenees mountains can hardly be called southern Spain, but even Alicante and Murcia saw a little bit of snow. It’s expected that snow could fall Cueta – the little Spanish enclave south of Marbella – for the first time since 1993.

It's quite a sight indeed to see snow on the normally sandy beaches of Orihuela and Torrevieja. Many believe that it just adds to the allure of the region, making it a place where the weather can still surprise you, despite normally being inviting and clement. Those who aren’t fans of the snow don’t need to worry; the long days and warm air of March are just a few weeks away.