Alex Trelinski
AS the debate over mass tourism continues, a new report suggests that Spain will overtake France to become the world’s most visited country by 2040.
The study called ‘NextGen Travellers and Destinations’ was jointly conducted by Deloitte and Google.
It predicts that 110 million visitors will pick Spain in 2040- massively up from last-year’s record figure of 84 million.
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That’s great news for the Spanish economy but not good long-term news for tourism infrastructures, especially accommodation which has been rocketing in price- especially in city centre areas where ‘locals’ are being priced out of the property market.
A 2023 study from GlobalData said France was on track to become the most visited country by 2025, with 93.7 million international travellers.
But the Google-Deloitte survey says France will be five million behind Spain in 2040 with 105 million visitors, followed by the United States with 100 million.
It has not given the rationale behind its reasoning to put Spain top, but a combination of an average of 300 sunny days per year, cheap air fares, and milder winters are suggested as contributory factors.
A Caixabank study published last month said the Spanish tourism industry is growing at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the economy, bringing in unprecedented income as visitors spend more each year.
The data came as Spain is set to top 90 million tourist arrivals by the end of 2024, surpassing the record breaking 85 million in 2023- well above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Airports are breaking passenger records on a seemingly monthly basis while tourists are spending an average of €1,300 each — 19% more than they were pre-pandemic — leading to the sector representing a staggering 13% of the national GDP.
The Google-Deloitte survey does not seem to have taken into account restrictions being introduced in tourist cities over holiday apartment rentals and what impact- if any- there has been tourism as a result of protests in areas like the Canary Islands, the Balearics, and Barcelona.
