Anyone notice a decrease of tourists in spain this year?

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Jules21

Absolutely. The rate on the euro has gone terrible and I think that people are finding it hard as the price on eating out and drinks ect has gone up because of this.

Why would you go somewhere where you dont get much for your money when you can go to places like Bulgaria, Turkey and Tunisia ect where you get a good rate and they have got their own currency and the cost of living is cheaper.

The weather is also better in these places, especially Turkey and Tunisia, where as you can still get a cloudy day through the summer months in parts of spain.

hilverchas

I do so agree with "digame", it might depend on where you live, but I admit it doesn't seem to have been any different from previous years, in fact its busier in my personal opinion!
My aunt has tried to get tickets for November, many of the dates she picked have been FULL for sometime for Malaga.
If you walk about my town the only language you hear is english, the hotels and bars seem to be doing fine, OK folks might just be spending less but they are here believe me, they are here!
When you reckon up how many folks were actually stuck in foriegn parts when the airline XL went bust! the tourist industry seems to be doing fine, in Cuba alone there were 4,000 Brits stranded, not pleasant I will admit, but that was just 4,000 folks in Cuba get my drift! how many thousands are actually abroad right now ...package deals, flights only, cruises, travelling in their own cars, etc., etc.,
This year in Spain I ahve seen more Uk reg.cars than I have done for a good few years...........I think I can rest my case on this point!

knitknackers

Perhaps a little less British tourists round my area of Spain, but the Spanish have certainly been here.
I had noticed the bars and restaurants weren't as busy but the supermarkets have done a roaring trade.

Seems the tourists have been eating and drinking in their holiday apartments.
Who can blame them when just a cup of coffee is 1.50â‚¬

David B

TheSpanish ministry of Industry, commerce and tourism released a press release in the first quarter of 2008 to say that spanish tourism was up 3.3% as of the same period in 2007 - and this was supposedly "low season" with regards tourism.
I live in Barcelona, and haven't noticed any drop in the amount of tourists that are usually walking around in comparison to other years - maybe they spend less, but maybe people have been so depressed by the current financial climate that they want to treat themselves with a holiday!

agooddub

One section that is definitely down is the Golf Holiday sector. The green fees are way too expensive. When the clubs saw a decline over the past number of years, instead of reducing the fees to attract more players, they done a stupid thing and increased the rates to protect their profits. Now all you can see is half finished new golf complexes and apartments where the developers have pulled out.
I spoke to a bar worker last week who said that her tips were down by 60% this year, in her opinion, directly as a result of the decline in golfers.
Also people are staying home to drink at supermarket prices instead of going to trashy Karaoke bars where they are being ripped off with inflated prices.

Carousel

It was thought that was going to be the case, but in actual fact the weather was so bad around Europe that every available plane seat was taken up. If you wanted a flight back to the UK for an emergency, you just couldn't get one on certain days. If you were lucky you were paying a lot for the seat. When it comes to having a sunny or a rainy holiday, many people didn't care less about the euro exchange rates. Where I live in Spain, July and August were just as busy as any previous year.

BarcelonaMan

I had the same question for someone in a higher level in the Madrid Tourist office on Wednesday. We were alone and talking tourism and she said that really no, not so far. And even if there was a drop it has been very light.

Of course she was only referring to Madrid and not to the country in general but I was surprised by her answer. One certainly cannot notice a difference on the street either. It almost seems there are MORE tourist than last year and I too expected just the opposite what with the high price of oil and plane tickets, the poor exchange rate from those coming from the USA (and not so good now from the U.K. either), and the higher price for everything.

So at least in Madrid it seems there's been little change and this is the focal point of tourism in Spain.

Saludos, MadridMan(.com)

willsy

I live in Galicia, Northern Spain and this year was the quietest in the 4 years I have lived here. The majority of the tourists here are from Madrid and other parts of central Spain and the hotel booking were definitely down. One good point was that it was a lot easier driving home after a day on the beach!

dubie

Yes. For the first time ever, you could get a table at lunch time on any of the chiringuitos on Salinas beach in Ibiza without a booking made in June!

Snot Me

yep my business is very tourist orientated and i believe my takings are approx 30 per cent down on last year

also just walking around Marbella and Fuengirola there are empty bars and empty streets and even empty beaches

mr_man

Its been very busy here in Madrid..Even in the center every single night there's tons of people.
I have to disagree with the first answer .They said with the exchange rate no one would want to eat out or buy drinks ...
If you stick to cafeteria's or the menu del dia's you cant go wrong...and the prices are quite cheap.
I sometimes buy a beer from the small grocery stores (Alimentacion frutos secos) .A large can costs 1.20 euro .and then walk around town..

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