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International tourist trade up 130% in a year

By Dilip Kuner

THE number of tourists visiting Spain rebounded by 130% to 71.6 million in 2022, compared to the previous Covid-hit year. According to the Spanish statistics office (INE) the strong recovery was still not enough to match preCovid 2019, remaining 14% down.

This was despite a strong recovery in the first half of the year, with foreign visitors at 92% of their preCovid level by July.

But the recovery dipped in the second half of the year, possibly due to high inflation and energy prices hitting spending power.

On the other hand, domestic tourism has recovered much faster, throwing a lifeline to the industry.

Tourism industry body Exceltur’s Tourism Outlook report said the sector’s GDP reached €159 billion in 2022 - up 1.4% on the

A SPANISH tourist in Australia barely had one leg in the country before he was sent back under beefed-up biosecurity laws over failing to declare ham and cheese in his luggage.

The 20-year-old man had his visa cancelled and was fined $3,300 for carrying more than one kilogram of undeclared pork and cheese. He was stopped at Perth Airport previous year and 4.7% on 2018.

The report added that 61% of economic growth in Spain last year was down to tourism.

Exceltur said the first quarter of 2022 was marked by higher energy prices and problems with supplies due to the war in Ukraine, as well as the