03/02/2007 00:00
TW
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By Jason Moore THE average holidaymaker coming to Spain will spend less than 600 euros during his or her break and big spending tourists are staying away from Spain because there is too much development along the coast. These are the findings of a report commissioned by the national hoteliers association and it rather sums up the state of the tourist industry at the moment.

The report also says that a record number of tourists will come to Spain, again this year. So, more tourists spending less and the big spenders going elsewhere.

Ideally, every Spanish province would prefer few tourists spending much more although this does not appear to be possible. If the spending power of tourists continues to decline then Spain's principal industry could be facing some major problems. For a long time now it has been the stated wish of the local authorities to try and attract the big spenders. But they will not come because of the building on the coast and the fact that there are more tourists spending less. I believe that the Spanish tourist industry has reached a watershed and a change in direction is probably needed. Perhaps, it would be a better idea to encourage more residential tourism and give the green light to transform hotels which are surplus to requirements into apartment blocks. I think the writing is on the wall and perhaps a new start is needed.