Tourist nationality shift
Less British but more French, German and Belgians are visiting Spain
LESS Brits visited our shores in 2019 than the year prior, whereas the number of French, German and Belgian tourists is rising
Figures show that the number of British tourists arriving at our shores is decreasing, despite overall numbers going the other way.
The National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed its latest figures on the tourism sector recently. These show that the Valencia region welcomed a record number of foreign visitors (over 9.5 million). Not only that, but the money they parted with also increased, up to €9.6 million.
The concerning piece of data however, is that British tourists are falling in number. The INE registered the first decrease in British tourists to the Valencia region since they began keeping records in 2016, as over 42,000 less people chose to visit our shores in 2019 than the previous year. Experts from Valencia University (UV) point to the uncertainty with Brexit and overall prices as the two main factors dissuading Brits from coming over for their holidays. Therefore, they believe the decrease is just circumstantial, and not a cause for longterm concern.
So, if tourism is increasing but less British people are visiting us, who makes up the difference? The INE also shows that tourists from France (1.6 million) and Germany (605,000) are increasing and thus keeping the demand high. Furthermore whereas these are the greatest in total numbers, Belgian visitors have increased the most – up by 43% in just four years.