Has This Been the Best Summer Ever for the Costa del Sol?

Has This Been the Best Summer Ever for the Costa del Sol?

The whole year has been fantastic and full of tourists 

What is it that makes a summer special? The weather? Howoften you get to go to the beach? A good football tournament? Getting to travel? Those sweet summer romances?

Summer has a lot of different meanings for a lot of different people, but for an area such as the Costa del Sol, summer generally means blue skies, packed beaches, busy restaurants, and healthy coffers in bars, hotels, cafes, and clubs.

While being busier may not always be better, for an area of the world that depends so heavily on tourism, the more people entering the Costa del Sol the better for its reputation, experience, and services.

With this said, it’s fair to say the Costa del Sol of Spain may have just had their best summer ever. Data taken from the region’s hotel association AHECOS and Turismo Costa del Sol reveal that visitor numbers between June and September were up 5.2% compared to the same time period last year.

This means over seven million people chose to visit theCosta del Sol during the summer, which is the highest amount of tourists ever. But if you are put off by the idea of beaches packed to the brim, then consider the businesses in the region – the boost in tourism improved employment by 8%, and generated over €7.15 billion for the Costa del Sol across summer.

Further statistical information from the tourist board shows that overnight stays during summer increased by 2.36% during summer, with new arrivals increasing by 1.6% over last year.

The positive data has led to speculation that 2017 may very well be the best summer ever for the Costa del Sol, with a large amount of the surge caused by holidaymakers from Britain, Germany, and Scandinavian countries. They can’t resist coming back to the country each year, bringing their full pockets with them. The number of British holidaymakers was up 7% over last year, according to AEHCOS.

Looking into the tradition slower winters, data from airportbookings in Malaga has suggested that arrivals will increase 12% between November and January compared to the same period from last year.

Every Tourism Record Ever Broken in Costa del Sol

Costa del Sol is booming and continues to break all records

Every Tourism Record Ever Broken in Costa del Sol

2016 was certainly a bumper year for tourism in Spain and nowhere was this more evident than in the Costa del Sol. There was so much tourism, in fact, that the president of the Turismo Costa del Sol tourism authority Elías Bendodo announced in a press confidence

that the province saw their highest visitor numbers ever. To put it into actual figures there were 10.2% more visitors to the region in 2016 compared to 2015, which was itself a year record. It boils down to 12,000,000 visitors, 26,000,000 overnight stays, and a grand total of €11.1 billion spent.

The amount of domestic tourists to the Costa del Sol was up3% year-on-year, while foreign tourism increased by the much more impressive figure of 15.7%. As has become tradition, British tourists made up the bulk of Spanish tourism; accounting for 2.6 million arrivals; which is up 16.6% over 2015. Overall visitors came from 19 different countries including Poland, Russia, Sweden, Romania and Hungary.

Bendodo believes that, just as 2016 broke all the records of 2015, 2017 could break all the records of 2016. In order or this to happen things have to be handled just right. The true challenge will be to retain these record breaking numbers for the years to come.