Spanish tourism continues recovery from global crisis

Jun 22, 2011, 9:49 GMT

Madrid - Spain's tourism industry is recovering speedily from the global crisis, with visitor numbers expected to grow by up to 6.5 per cent this year, Tourism Minister Miguel Sebastian said Wednesday.

About 19 million tourists visited Spain in the first five months of 2011, up 7.3 per cent from the same period last year, according to official figures published Wednesday.

Sebastian said the number of tourists was expected to reach 56 million this year, up from 52.6 million in 2010.

The improvement is attributed to the recovery of Spain's European tourism markets and unrest in competing Arab destinations such as Tunisia or Egypt.

Spain's tourism industry began growing again in 2010 after declining 8.7 per cent in 2009.

Spain's biggest tourism markets are Germany and Britain. Spain receives the world's fourth-largest number of tourists after France, the United States and China, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

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