British dominate tourism market

The country as a whole welcomed 64.6 million foreign tourists in the first eleven months of 2015, a rise of almost 5%. In November, the total was 3.7 million - an increase of slightly less than 11% - with the UK providing over 20% of them (770,000), which itself was a rise of almost 13%. France was the second highest market, having increased by nearly 20% in November, while Germany - in third - was down by just under 7%.

For the eleven months, the Balearic figure of 11.55 million was second behind Catalonia, to where 16.52 million foreign tourists went, a rise of 3.7%. The Canaries were behind the Balearics with 10.57 million, an increase of just over 1%.

The final figure for 2015 for the whole country is expected to exceed 65 million and so set a record for foreign tourism. The greatest contributors to the country’s tourism from January to November were UK visitors - nearly 15 million of them; up by 4%. French tourists were second on close to 11 million, with Germans third on almost 10 million, but down a touch (0.8%).

With the Balearics having accounted for under 3% of the national total for November, it was the Canaries which featured most strongly, with over 27% of all foreign tourists during the month. Catalonia was second (24.5%) and Andalusia third with over 14% of the total. Looking ahead to next year, the all-inclusive and cruise markets are expected to show the biggest growth with the British market.

According to GfK Ascent’s Leisure Travel Monitor, booking patterns changed following the Tunisian incident towards the end of June, with a switch away from Tunisia towards perceived safer destinations. The attack on the Russian plane at the end of October and subsequent terrorist attack in Paris may also affect consumer confidence.

British holidaymakers have traditionally proven to be resilient travellers and it is likely that this will continue in 2016. City breaks and beach holidays are set to go head-to-head once again as the top holiday choices, all-inclusives also look to cement a strong position, with one in five people (20%) saying they may take an all-inclusive holiday in 2016. There is good news for the cruise industry, with 13% saying they are intending to take a cruise in 2016, up slightly from the 10% who actually did so in 2015.

Younger people are the most positive about 2016. A third (33%) of people aged 16-24 and 28% of people aged 25-34 are planning to spend more on holidays next year.

Families will also play a key role in the market in 2016 as the staple family holiday remains a firm favourite.