Spanish tourism profits from unrest in Arab countries

Apr 25, 2011, 12:51 GMT

Madrid - Spain's tourism industry is recovering from the global crisis, due partly to the unrest in competing travel destinations in the Arab world, officials said Monday.

Spain received 9 million foreign visitors in the first quarter of 2011, up 2.9 per cent from the year-earlier period, according to government figures released Monday.

The increase was due to the economic recovery of Spain's European tourism markets, as well as the unrest in Arab countries, tourism official Joan Mesquida said.

It had been expected that Spanish tourism would profit from the turmoil in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt.

The number of tourists coming from Britain and Germany - Spain's biggest markets - dropped to 4.8 per cent to 1.8 million and by 3.7 per cent to 1.5 million, respectively, in the first quarter.

However, arrivals increased from the Netherlands, Belgium, Nordic countries and Italy.

In 2010, tourist arrivals to Spain increased by 1 per cent to 52.6 million.

Spain receives the world's fourth-largest number of tourists after France, the United States and China, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported recently.

If measured by tourism income, however, Spain is the world's second-largest tourist destination after the United States.

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