Spain broke a record with 'borrowed' tourists... TÜROB, Fitur Outcome Report...

Spain broke a record with 'borrowed' tourists

Antalya has more five-star hotels than all of Spain

The majority of the foreign tourists who could not come to Türkiye last year chose Spain. According to a report prepared by the Association of Turkish Hoteliers, Spanish tourism authorities stated that of the 75 million foreign tourists who visited Spain in 2016, approximately 12 million were 'borrowed tourists', and that these tourists chose Spain instead of countries with security concerns such as Türkiye above all, as well as Tunisia and Egypt. On the other hand, it was noted that Spain is very careful about accommodation supply, and that Antalya has more five-star hotels than the whole of Spain.

Last year, the foreign tourists Türkiye lost became the gain of Spain, our biggest tourism rival in the Mediterranean. It was noted that tourists' preference for Spain, where prices are relatively high, shows that Türkiye also suffered a loss in the number of high-revenue foreign tourists. The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) recently prepared an outcome report on the FITUR Tourism Fair held in Madrid, the capital of Spain. At the FITUR Fair, regarded as the 3rd most important tourism fair held in Europe after the ITB Berlin and WTM London Tourism Fairs, expectations regarding the Spanish tourism market were also set out. In the TÜROB report, according to the information conveyed on the basis of information provided by the Spanish tourism authorities, it was stated that approximately 12 million of the tourists who visited Spain in 2016 were 'borrowed tourists', and that these tourists chose Spain instead of countries with security concerns such as Türkiye above all, as well as Tunisia and Egypt. The report emphasised that, when conditions change, a significant portion of these tourists will again prefer other destinations, and that for this reason Spain wants to retain these tourists by increasing its service quality.

83 thousand Spaniards came
It was stated that, taking into account the current economic conditions in Spain and the bilateral meetings held at the fair, the downward trend in the number of Spanish tourists who will come to our country in 2017 is also foreseen to continue. The report stated: "While it was among our country's most steadily growing markets, due to the economic crisis that emerged in the country as of 2009, the number of tourists coming to our country from Spain remained stable at around 300 thousand per year. However, in line with the adverse developments occurring in our country, a decline in the number of tourists began as of 2014. In 2016, the largest market loss of all time was experienced, with a 55 percent decline. The number of Spanish tourists coming to Istanbul, the main destination for Spanish tourists coming to our country, fell by 55 percent in 2016 to 83 thousand."

A record at 75 million
The report, drawing attention to the fact that Spain, one of the world's leading tourism countries, broke an all-time record in 2016 by increasing its number of tourists by 10.3 percent compared with the previous year and reaching 75.6 million tourists, stated: "Thus Spain reached its 2020 target of 75 million tourists four years early. To put it another way, the country hosted 143 tourists per minute, 8,626 per hour and 207,022 per day. Another record was recorded in tourism revenue. In 2016, Spain achieved spending of 1,023 euros per person and a total of 77 billion euros in tourism revenue.

269 five-star hotels in Spain, 405 in Antalya
The report, drawing attention to the fact that Spain's accommodation capacity is 14,728 hotels and 1,458,000 beds, included the following information: "Hotel investments are made within the framework of regional planning. Despite the steady increase in the number of tourists, there has been no noteworthy change in the number of hotels over the past three years. Bed capacity consists mostly of 3- and 4-star hotels. While hotels generally provide bed & breakfast service, the all-inclusive system is virtually non-existent. Although it is possible to come across half-board accommodation practices in hotels in resort areas, in city centres such as Madrid in particular, hotels apply room-only sales methods. The main reasons for this situation are cited as the well-developed state of gastronomy tourism in Spain, the increase in the number of individual trips, and the fact that spending per tourist is far higher than in our country." The report, pointing out that across the whole of Spain there are 269 five-star hotels with a capacity of 84 thousand beds, stated: "This situation will be better understood when one considers that the 405 five-star hotels located in Antalya alone have 352 thousand beds."

Recommendations from TÜROB
The report stated that, taking into account our 'Türkiye Tourism 2023 Strategy Action Plan' targets, it would be important and beneficial to carefully examine Spain's structure of regionally independent and competitive tourism offices, the opportunities it provides to low-cost airlines, the restrictions imposed on new hotel investments, the diversification of tourism, and its advances in gastronomy, shopping and health tourism, and to make similar moves. Finally, it was noted that effectively promoting in the Spanish market the advantages Türkiye offers in the field of health tourism, particularly hair transplantation and aesthetic surgery, would increase the number of health tourists to be drawn from that country.

You can access the full report at the address below:
http://www.turob.com/basin_bultenleri.aspx?id=23866