According to the Alliance for Tourism Excellence (Exceltur), Spanish GDP was up 3.5% during Q1 2015, due mainly to a 10% rise in demand from domestic travellers during January and February.
At the same time, record numbers of overseas visitors came to Spanish shores in the first three months of this year. Some 10.6 million visitors arrived in Spain from January to March, up 5.3% according to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. It was the British who led the league table, with 2.1 million people, up 9.5% from the same period in 2014.
Tourism remains a crucial part of the overall Spanish economy, directly contributing 5.6% of GDP during 2014, according to figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2015 Spain guide. This equates to €58.8 billion, and this is expected to increase by 3.3% during 2015.
