The total number of tourists to Spain decreased for the first time in nine years going down by 4.9 % year on year to 2.2 million in July as per the official data from INE, Spain’s statistics agency.
The holidaymakers now prefer cheaper destination like Turkey and Egypt resulting in a drop of 5.6% in the number of Britons visiting Spain year on year in July.
Tourism accounts for 11 per cent of the economy and is known to employ more Spaniards than any other industry. Tourism is a major industry for Spain and July is an important period for tourism in the country. Visitors flock here to relish the beaches, historic towns and cities.
As per the latest reports by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Tourism Highlights report, Spain is the second most visited country in the world and leads USA and France.
There were 81.8 million international visitors in 2017 and was second after France. It also took the second spot for international tourism receipts with $68bn spent by visitors in 2017.
The number of international visitation in the first seven months of 2018 saw a gradual climb and number went up by 0.3 per cent to 47 million, showing the lowest growth rate in eight years.
Currently Turkey is experiencing a resurgence in tourism which consequently resulted a drop in international visitors in Spain.After a series of attacks and attempted military coup the British holidaymakers are visiting the country.
