The Head of the Andalusian Tourism Board, Francisco Javier Fernández, has released the figures for our region during summer 2017 – and they are good.

There has been an increase in foreign tourism (+7.0%) that has offset the drop in national tourism (-4.2%). He also pointed out that September 2017 was the best ever on record.

In figures, September saw 5,950,000 overnight stays – that’s 2.6% up on last September. Those overnight stays belong to 1,900,000 visitors, which in itself is 3.7% on last year.

No doubt the exceptional weather has had a lot to do with it, as well as instability in Barcelona and outside Spain. Cataluña is the top Spanish destination for foreign tourism, followed by Andalucía.

As for individual provinces within Andalucía, all have experienced an increment, except Málaga, which maintained the same overnight stay figures as last year, although the number of visitors grew.

Sr. Fernández said, “where there is already a maximum, it’s difficult to increase in numbers,” referring to Málaga, pointing out that it accounts for 38% of all overnight stays in Andalucía.

He also expressed the view that the increase in hotel prices was behind the drop in national tourism; “Andalucia has never been known for being expensive,” he reasoned. He also explained that national tourism represented 60% of the total, so Andalucía should take good care of its fellow Spanish tourists.

Finally, he announced that the Junta was going to push “de-seasonalising;” i.e., try and spread visits throughout the year, thus taking advantage of the excellent Andalusian climate. The first campaign would start at the beginning of next month and last until the end of December, with the second campaign between January and March.

(News: Andalucia)