Spain welcomes record 38 million tourists in January-July

Spain's tourism industry generated up to 20% of all new employment between 2014-18Spain's tourism industry

Spain received 38 million international tourists between January and July 2015, up 4.7% from a year earlier and marking a new record, according to the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. In July alone, the number of foreign tourists to Spain grew 6.3% to 8.8 million, also a new record.

Regarding the origin of the tourists,  arrivals from the UK, France, the USA and Asian countries clocked up a monthly rise of 40.5% in July. All the main markets showed growth except for the Nordic countries. The UK remains Spain’s top market, with 8.7 million tourists arriving in the first 7 months of 2015, 3.5% more than a year ago. France comes in second place, with 6 million tourists, 7.8% more, and Germany in third position, with 5.8 million, 1.3% higher than in 2014.

On the other hand, Russian tourist arrivals fell by 37.5% to 503,996 visitors, while the Nordic countries registered a decline of 4.6%  to 2.9 million travellers in the first seven months of the year.

So Spain has consolidated its position as the world’s third most-visited destination after France and the USA.

About the Author

The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.