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Date Published: 02/09/2021
ARCHIVED - International tourism in Andalucia drops by 35.4 per cent in 2021
The first seven months of the year also saw a 34 per cent spending decrease in Andalucía
Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) has shown a marked decrease in the number of foreign holidaymakers visiting Andalucía, with just 1,230,221 tourists coming to the region from overseas between January and July. This is 35.4 per cent less than in the first seven months of 2020, a time when the Covid situation in Spain was much worse than it is now.
The figures for the first half of 2021 also show a fall in spending by foreign tourists, down to €1,342 million, a 34 per cent year-on-year decrease. It’s a worrying development for the Andalucía region as its economy relies heavily on tourism. The drop can be explained by Covid fears and fewer people holidaying abroad, but it is slightly surprising given the increase in vaccination rates in Spain this year, which have just reached 70 per cent of the population.
Admittedly, the data doesn’t include figures for international tourism in August, which is traditionally the most popular month for foreign tourists to visit Andalucía. In July alone, the region received 554,924 international tourists, 54.3 per cent more than in the same month last year. In terms of the nationalities of foreign tourists in Andalucía in July, the Nordic countries were first with 87,166 tourists, closely followed by France with 87,146.
The average duration of how long international tourists stayed in Andalucía in July increased, however, up to 10.3 days, which is 15.9 per cent more than last year. It seems that once people have decided to travel abroad this year, they are more willing to make it worth their while by staying longer.
Foreign visitors in the second half of the year will find it a much better travel experience, as the region falls out of the extreme risk zone for Covid and the Junta de Andalucía lifts restrictions to water parks, bars and other public venues.
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