Staff Reporter
Article by Scarlet Jenkins
SEARCHES for flights to Malaga from other areas of Spain have tripled in the space of a week.
The latest Costa del Sol Tourism data reveals that flight searches jumped from 27,000 to 90,000 within a week.
This is likely linked to the end of Spain’s state of alarm at midnight on June 21.
It comes as most of the country moved from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of the coronavirus de-escalation plan.
Tourists from Madrid and Catalunya are free to flock to southern Spain as of this weekend.
Unlike other European countries, the UK has only seen a 24% rise in searches for flights to Malaga, compared to the Netherlands increasing by 114% and Ireland 77%.
This new data doesn’t come as a surprise, as a survey taken back in May revealed 33% of Spanish travellers would choose Andalucia as their top travel destination once lockdown is lifted, according to DNA Tourism and Leisure Consultancy Firm.
This increase coincides with the announcement that the Spanish Government has plans to invest €4.25 billion into the tourism sector.
There has been an overall 25% increase in searches for travel to Spain in July 2020, compared to 2019, according to the Departamento de Intelegencia Touristica.
The number of internet searches to travel to Malaga is expected to increase further as we approach the opening of European Union borders on June 21, introducing the ‘new normal’ in Spain.
The Vice President of Malaga, Margarita Del Cid Muñoz, gave credit to everyone for the quick recovery in tourist interest in the province.
She said a major factor influencing the rise in demand to travel to the Costa del Sol had been that it was considered a ‘safe’ location.
