The affluent tourists who did not come to Türkiye went to Spain, which has half as many five-star hotels as Antalya

Tourism professionals have rolled up their sleeves both to increase the number of tourists coming from Spain and to win back the high-spending foreign tourists who chose that country over Türkiye. TÜROB President Timur Bayındır said that the foreign tourists who did not come to Türkiye last year were instead added to the earnings of Spain, our biggest tourism rival in the Mediterranean. Bayındır drew attention to the fact that Spain, which hosts 82 million tourists, has only half as many five-star hotels as Antalya.

Spain, which serves both as a source market and as one of the biggest rivals in the Mediterranean for Türkiye's tourism, became the leading destination in 2017 for the high-spending tourists who did not come to Türkiye. While tourism professionals are working to win back the tourists lost to Spain, they are also making intensive efforts to once again increase the number of Spanish tourists coming to Türkiye. The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) conducted a study on the Spanish tourism market, setting out its expectations and forecasts. Providing information about the study, TÜROB President Timur Bayındır said that the foreign tourists who were expected to come to Türkiye last year but did not come became Spain's gain. Noting that Spain broke the all-time record in 2017 by increasing its number of tourists by 8.6 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 81.8 million tourists, Bayındır said: "Another record was set in tourism revenue. In 2017, Spain earned 1,062 Euros per capita and a total of 87 billion Euros in tourism revenue. In Spain in 2016, per capita spending had been 1,023 Euros and tourism revenue 77 billion Euros."

The decline in the market has stopped

Pointing out that, in addition to being a rival for Türkiye, Spain is also a source market with high potential, Bayındır stated that a recovery is forecast in the number of Spanish tourists coming to our country in 2018 and that the downward trend is expected to end. Bayındır said: "The decline in the Spanish market, which was among Türkiye's most stable growth markets until 2009, has stopped, but its stagnant course continues. As of 2009, the target was for more than 500,000 Spanish tourists to come to our country annually. However, due to the economic crisis that emerged in Spain, 376,000 Spanish tourists came in 2009. In line with the negative developments that occurred in our country, the number of tourists began to decline as of 2014. In 2017, it entered a stagnant course. In 2017, 106,000 tourists came from Spain to Türkiye. This figure is almost the same as the previous year. It is still considerably lower than in 2009, but at least the halting of the decline is a positive development."

It hosted 82 million with three- and four-star hotels

Emphasizing that Spain, which hosts 82 million tourists, has only half as many five-star hotels as Antalya, Bayındır continued: "Spain's accommodation capacity is 14,659 hotels and 1,472,000 beds. Hotel investments are made within the framework of regional planning. Despite the steady increase in the number of tourists, there has been no notable change in the number of hotels over the past four years. The bed capacity consists mostly of three- and four-star hotels. While there are 289 five-star hotels operating in Spain, there are 2,224 four-star hotels and 2,473 three-star hotels. Hotels generally provide service on a bed & breakfast basis, while the 'all-inclusive' system is almost nonexistent. While it is possible to come across 'half-board' accommodation arrangements at resort-area hotels, in city centers such as Madrid in particular, hotels apply room-only sales methods. This is the main reason why gastronomy tourism is well developed in Spain, why the number of individual travelers has increased, and why spending per tourist is much higher than in our country. This will be better understood when one considers that there are 352,000 beds in the 405 five-star hotels located in Antalya alone."

The highlights of TÜROB's Spain study are as follows:

• In 2017, a positive and steady increase in the number of tourists was observed in all markets except France in terms of Spanish tourism. The number of tourists coming to Spain from the USA reached 2,650,000 with a record increase of 32.4 percent. An increase of 21 percent was recorded in the number of Swiss tourists. While the number of Russian tourists coming to Spain was forecast to fall in 2017, following the resolution of the problems Türkiye experienced in the Russian market in 2016 as a result of political issues and the subsequent dramatic decline, and given the increase Türkiye captured from this market in 2017, the number of Russian tourists in Spain instead rose by 14 percent to reach a level of 1,150,000.
  
  
• Turkish television series have begun to rank among the most-watched programs on Spanish television. The series 'Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne' is broadcast in Spanish dubbing during prime time on Nova TV, one of Spain's leading television channels. It is considered important and necessary to carry out a study coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism so that these effects of Turkish television series contribute further to the promotion of our country.
  
  
• The opportunities presented by the '2018 FIFA World Cup', to be held in Russia between 15 June and 15 July 2018, for the promotion of Türkiye should be evaluated. Considering that the event will be held in a total of 11 cities in Russia (Moscow, Kazan, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Saransk, Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Rostov, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Volgograd), it is important to plan our country's promotional activities during the event now, taking into account both Russia's proximity to our country and the participating countries.
  
  
• According to the Spanish government's program, the goal is for 1 million Chinese tourists to visit the country in 2020. With a view to this goal, various promotional activities have been launched in China by the Spanish tourism agency Turespaña. TV programs, social media campaigns, hosting of bloggers, the initiation of a cooperation process between the tourism sector organizations of the two countries, increases in the number of direct scheduled and economy flights, visa facilitation, the placement of Chinese-language signage at airports and the employment of personnel stand out as some of the efforts that have been launched.
  
  
• It is gratifying that Spanish tourists who travel for reasons such as city tourism, cultural tourism and gastronomy tourism regard our country as a center of attraction. It would be important and beneficial to carefully examine Spain's structure of regional and competitive tourism offices, the opportunities it provides to Low-Cost Carriers (LCC), the restrictions imposed on new hotel investments, the diversification of tourism, and its initiatives in the fields of gastronomy, shopping and health tourism, and to implement similar moves in our country.
  
  
• Türkiye's effective promotion in the Spanish market of the advantages it offers in the field of health tourism, particularly hair transplantation and cosmetic surgery, will increase the number of health tourists drawn from this country.