JEDDAH, 12 October 2005 — With its annual multimillion tourist inflow, Spain today enjoys the status of being one of the world leaders in tourism. “Smile, you’re in Spain” is a major campaign that has helped the country reap rich dividends.
In 2004, Spain occupied once again a privileged place among the world’s top tourist destinations, ranking second worldwide with 53.6 million tourists (+3.4 percent over 2003). Spain is also the world’s first destination for “sun and beach” tourism, the second one for business tourism, and one of the most important destinations for city breaks and touring.
From January to May this year, the flow of tourists has increased by 5.1 percent, or18.8 million over the corresponding period in 2004.
According to Turespana, the Spanish Tourist Institute, the Spanish Tourist Office in Rome, which is in charge of promoting Spain in the Middle East and Arab-Mediterranean countries, the flow of tourists from Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world can “certainly be better” than what it is. “The number of visitors from the Arab world is small and efforts are being made to promote Spain as a vacation destination for Saudi and Arab families,” the spokesman said, adding that the organization is also working very hard to promote the country’s rich tourist destinations among countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, aside of course from the Arab world.
Says Maite de la Torre, managing director at the Rome-based Spanish Tourist Office, “Our country offers many attractions -- beautiful countryside and coastline, high quality infrastructure, modern roads, luxury hotels and convention centers, excellent restaurants, unforgettable spas, and golf courses.”
“Also the Spanish lifestyle and our rich gastronomy are very appreciated by tourists. All these factors have turned Spain into its current standing as the world’s second tourist destination,” Torre added.
Overseas visitors are from worldwide, but topping them are tourists from the UK, Germany, and France. “Spain expects a 59 percent rise in the tourist inflow in the next 10 years,” Torre added. “This is because tourism in Spain is in excellent health despite many terrorist activities of ETA and the Madrid bombing earlier this year.
Madrid’s head of finance and tourism development, Miguel Angel Villanueva, said the Spanish capital recovered rapidly from the effects of the train bombings on March 11. “Madrid has proven to be an example to the world of a civic city with solidarity, respect and a level head in bad times, but above all it has been an example of a coordinated, effective disciplined city that has excellent public services.”
A reason contributing to the increased flow of visitors and tourists is the foolproof security measures that are in force.
The Spanish authorities have introduced additional surveillance measures including an increase in the number of security forces in locations where there are large numbers of people, notably airports, train stations and the Madrid Metro system. Local police patrol the Metro lines and the army is helping to monitor the railroad infrastructure throughout Spain. The security measures that have been introduced have not only helped in restoring normal life within the city, but are also turning Madrid into one of the safest cities in the world.
In fact, Spain’s tourism sector, like the rest of the world, started off 2003 within a scenario of international uncertainty, with threats from economic crises, the Iraq war and other conflicts. But the most pessimistic predictions were not confirmed and Spain ended the year with a 0.3 percent increase in the number of tourists.
Business tourism plays a significant role in Madrid with six out of every 10 people visiting on business, in contrast to the rest of Spain where sun and beach vacations are the main attraction.
Tourism is the country’s first industry, accounting for almost 12 percent of the GDP in 2004. The growth in tourism receipts has been spectacular: from around 3 billion euro in 1978 to nearly 35 billion euro in 2004. There is a close relationship between state and privately owned organizations to provide a top-quality service in all kind of products. In order to achieve this goal, careful dedication has been given to quality issues in recent years, with the creation of high quality standards for various tourist organizations.
Over 35 million tourists from the Middle East are expected to undertake overseas visits in the year 2020. “The main strengths of Spain’s promotion in the Middle East is the quality of our offer, the Islamic heritage in our culture and the positive perception of Spain in the UAE countries as a tourist destination for families,” the spokesman for the Spanish Tourist Board said.
Spain also has a great potential as a congress and business opportunity destination. The Spain Convention Bureau (SCB) is a non profit-making organization, which currently involves 38 conference cities in Spain. It has established in 1984 by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces as a special department of the Tourism Commission.
Spain is one of the most important world’s stage and cultural meeting points par excellence. Diverse events related to art and culture are being held.
Spain is the country with more cities named “World heritage” by UNESCO and boasts a high number of other world heritage sites.
Spain has seven main great urban cities for tourism. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Cordoba, and Granada are examples of the harmonious coexistence of tradition and modernity in each and every Spanish city. The Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Museum (MNCARS) together make up the “Paseo del Arte” or “Art Walk” in Madrid. These three collections make Madrid the world capital of art, without which it would be impossible to understand the history and evolution of painting.
Barcelona is a modern city with a rich historical and artistic heritage: Picasso Museum, Barrio Gothic, and all the houses in Modernist style built by Gaudi and other famous architects.
Bilbao’s cultural calendar is hard to resist; it has two of the best art galleries in Spain, six themed museums, countless contemporary art exhibitions and a continuous series of shows and performances, such as opera, symphony orchestras, theater, dance, cinema, easy listening, pop and rock’n roll.The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum has become the cultural and tourist driving force of the Basque Country. This spectacular building, built by Frank O. Gehry in 1997, is completely covered with titanium sheets.
Seville, Cordoba and Granada are the most famous cities in Andalusia region, heirs to a rich Arab legacy. Every street and square that makes up the historic quarter of the Andalusian cities bursts with joy and bustle.
In the Costa del Sol, the city of Malaga has completed its greatest homage to its most widely-known son: On the Oct. 27, 2003, the Picasso Malaga Museum was inaugurated, an event that also fulfilled one of the artist’s own wishes. Valencia is a very famous city nowadays thanks to the Arts and Sciences City. This cultural and leisure complex provides young people with the opportunity of enjoying 3D films at L’Hemisferic Cinema-Planetarium, visiting the Principe Felipe Science Museum, and discovering L’Oceanografic, the biggest marine centre in Europe. The calendar of festivals has a special place for young people.
The country offers great shopping opportunities. There are large international-style department stores and typical popular shops to make shopping a pleasant experience.
Spain has a varied climate and impressive natural resources with more than 800 km of coast. During the summer you can take a holiday in every place because of the weather. Spain in the only country in Europe where it is possible to take a bath in winter, surely in the Canary Island but also in some areas of Costa del Sol, in Andalusia.
Eating tapas is yet another attraction. A day spent sampling tapas is the ideal way to experience Spanish culture and discover its enchanting bars and taverns. Tapas are an exquisite, varied sample of popular regional cuisine. You can share dishes and enjoy a broad selection of products. Spain has many high quality 4 and 5 star hotels. Spain also offers plenty of one, two and three hotels of good quality. The state-owned hotel chain “Paradores” is an ideal choice if you want to “taste” history, live in a castle, convent or palace, or enjoy nature, while staying in a deluxe hotel. Our tourism establishments cater for all budgets.
Barcelona is celebrating “Gastronomic Year 2005, the Year of food, cuisine and gastronomy” which runs through February 2006. Cooking demonstrations, tasting, appearances by some of the world’s most celebrated chefs, street fairs, gastronomic walking tours, fiestas, exhibitions and lots of delicious Spanish food are on hand for visitors.
Castile-La Mancha is the region that was home to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is spending $66 million to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes’ acclaimed masterpiece. An extensive calendar of more than 2,000 art exhibitions, concerts (from early music and symphonic and chamber orchestras to rock), dance performances from classical to contemporary, theater and other activities are in store for visitors. In the summer, 30 Quixote-themed plays were performed in the region’s open air theatres and town squares.
The Camino de Santiago is Europe’s great pilgrimage route. One can discover the route that has brought millions of people together over hundreds of years, on foot, on horseback or by bicycle. Choose your itinerary and get ready to live an unforgettable experience in northern Spain.
Volvo Ocean Race is a great sailing challenge in Spain. For the first time in its history, this prestigious international regatta will set sail from a non-British port. It will be in Vigo on Nov. 12.
Local cuisine includes “Morteruelo” (hot meat pate), “galianos” (stew served on a wheat cake), “zarajos” (plaited lamb’s intestines) and “resol” (made with coffee, sugar and orange peel) are preparations limited to local areas, which captivate visitors because of their authenticity and quality. La Mancha cheese, wild mushrooms, game, excellent roast lamb and a very traditional cuisine mixing the flavors of the countryside and the mountains and demanding to be discovered in greater depth.
