Late season surge for Balearic tourism

PALMA
THE Balearic Islands was the region of Spain with the second highest increase in the number of tourists visiting in September this year in comparison with the same month in 2009, Central Government researchers reported yesterday.

According to the study by tourist movement watchdog “Frontur” commissioned by the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce, the 1'338'513 tourists who came to the Balearics last September represented a 9.4 percent increase on numbers who visited 12 months previously.

The increase was superseded only by September tourist numbers in the Canary Islands where a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent was registered.
Frontur showed that all regions of the country favoured by international tourism reported a year-on-year growth in the number of visitors last September.

All these regions are also registering positive increases in the numbers of visitors this year to date compared with the same period in 2009. Across Spain as a whole, tourist figures for September this year were 4.9 percent up on what they had been for the same month last year, and represents the fifth consecutive month of an upturn in visitor numbers.

Some 5.2 million tourists came to Spain in September and 42.4 million have come this year to date, 0.8 percent more in comparison with the first nine months of 2009.

Germany is the key client market from where visitor numbers most increased in September this year - 11.4 percent more than in the same month in 2009.
Frontur showed that 1.02 million German tourists came to Spain last September, and 7.09 million have visited since the beginning of the year.
But in terms of absolute numbers, the most important tourist market for Spain continues to be the United Kingdom.
In September this year alone, 1.5 million British tourists came to Spain and 10.1 million have visited the country since the beginning of the year.
But Frontur's research shows that this accumulated figure from January to the end of September was 6.6 percent less than for the same period in 2009. France is also proving to be a client market of increasing significance for Spain. There were 3.5 percent more tourists visiting the country last September than there were 12 months previously, and a further 2.1 percent French came to Spain during the first nine months of this year than they did during the same period in 2009.

Meanwhile, 11.4 percent more Italians came to Spain last September then they did in the same month in 2009 and a further 9.2 percent since the beginning of the year.

The largest growth figures per region in September, Frontur reported were the Canary Islands (12.9%); the Balearics (9.4%); Catalonia (8.9%); Andalucia (5.3%), whilst Madrid actually experienced a year-on-year downturn of 8.1 percent.