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Date Published: 14/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Costa del Sol is bracing itself for a barrage of British tourists from February

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The easing of quarantine rules and UK screening of a dating programme filmed in Málaga is expected to attract a flood of British holidaymakers

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Costa del Sol is bracing itself for a barrage of British tourists from February

The Costa del Sol's tourism sector has high hopes for a significant upturn in holidaymakers from Britain following the easing of UK travel rules and the recent Channel 4 screening of a dating programme filmed on the coast of Malaga.

According to tourism officials and businesses, the sector has already detected an exponential growth in bookings from February to April, and is banking on a renewed confidence amongst British holidaymakers in light of a drop in infections and the success of the dating show The Language of Love, aimed at a younger audience.

In what the sector believes is an indicator of a promising first quarter, airline seat bookings for the next three months are almost five times higher than in the same period a year ago, with estimates pointing to a final figure of around 1.8 million seats.

And almost a quarter of these reservations (22%) have been made by travellers in the UK, followed by Spanish holidaymakers (20.1%), and the Dutch (6.9%).

In December 2021, there was a 6.6% increase in the search for flights to Malaga airport over the same period of the previous year, and according to Malaga Provincial Council, more than 1.4 million people reserved flights to the Costa del Sol for the first six months of 2022.

Travellers from the UK account for 15% of these bookings, around 210,000 people. Around 20,000 British expats are expected to return to the municipalities of Marbella and Mijas alone, having spent Christmas at home.

And sources at the British Embassy in Spain claim that the British online travel agency On the Beach has detected a 40% increase in bookings to Malaga province since January 4, which coincides with the dating show broadcast.

In terms of airports, London leads the way with 6.5% of flights destined for Malaga in the first quarter of 2022.

Image: Archive

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