Spain once again positions itself as one of the favourite destinations for international tourism in summer 2024

The Ministry of Industry, through Turespaña, has made the Summer Trends Reports public. The reports are prepared by the network of tourism councils located in different countries around the world.

This is a set of 25 reports with analyses and conclusions on the main economic indicators, political and social factors, recent developments in tourism demand and forward-looking indicators for each market that anticipate trends for the summer of 2024. These reports are a very useful tool for the sector to assess the volume of tourism activity in the coming months and to better manage its capacities.

In the opinion of the Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, the trends for the summer "make us optimistic, without being complacent". "After an extraordinary winter season, which is not a low season, we hope to complete a second half of the year that equals or even exceeds that of 2023," the minister said.

Overall, Spain continues to stand out as one of the favourite tourist destinations for the summer months of 2024 for most of the markets analysed. Moreover, in terms of the main markets included in the report (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the USA), Spain is clearly ahead of its most direct competitors.

In the case of the United Kingdom - our main tourist market - the air capacities programmed for the summer months show growth rates of more than 8% compared to the summer of 2023.

With regard to France, Spain is once again confirmed as the number one holiday destination for the French after their own country. According to the indicators contained in the report drawn up by Turespaña for France, the summer season will be very positive in terms of French tourist arrivals.

Despite Germany's weak economic position, projections indicate that its nationals will continue to travel in summer and that Spain will be among the preferred countries to spend their holidays.

Spain also continues to have the highest rates of consideration and intention to travel for Italian tourists, another of our country's key markets. Air capacities between Italy and Spain scheduled for the summer season have increased 13.8% over last year, offering varied connections with values above those of its competitors, which it also surpasses in flight searches through Skyscanner or Google.

The report points out that in the case of the USA - a highly profitable long-haul market that has experienced an extraordinary boom in 2023 and so far in 2024 - the seat forecast and direct flight frequency data to our country will experience increases of more than 16% for this summer.

Finally, China shows a progressive recovery in its tourism sector, given the continued increase in air capacity, the rise in visa demand and the solid performance of the market during the first two months of the year, which recorded a 19% increase in the number of travellers to Spain compared to 2019. Expectations for the 2024 summer season for this market indicate a remarkable 49.8% increase in air capacities between Spain and China, marking the most significant growth among competitors.

Arrivals and spending forecasts for May

As May is about to begin, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism is bringing forwards the forecast for international tourist arrivals and tourist spending, according to forecasts drawn up by Turespaña.

All indications are that May will once again be a month of exceptional performance and that it will follow the path traced by the first months of 2024. The forecast indicates that 9.49 million international tourists will arrive in our country this month, 14% more than in the same month of 2023. In addition, with regard to spending, the estimate calculates that these tourists will spend almost 12 billion euros this month, which compared to May last year would mean an increase of around 22%.

Non official translation