Madrid - This year's symbol of Spain's tourism industry is
the empty beach chair.
Such pictures appear in the media as tourism professionals brace
for what is already being described as their worst year in memory.
In the first five months of 2009, the number of foreign visitors
went down by nearly 12 per cent, with a fall of about 10 per cent
expected for the entire year.
That would be a dramatic development in Spain, which had grown
accustomed to its tourism climbing from one annual record to another.
In 2008, the number of tourists already plunged by 2.6 per cent in
its first decline for over a decade.
The country of 45 million receives nearly 60 million visitors
annually, with tourism contributing nearly 11 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP) and employing almost 2 million people.
Until recently, Spain was the world's second-biggest tourist
destination after France, but it has now fallen to the third place,
after the United States.
The industry has been hit by the economic crisis in countries like
Britain or Germany, where most tourists to Spain come from.
Those who can still afford to travel often use last-minute
bargains, and spend as little as they can while in Spain.
Spain's own recession is also affecting domestic tourism.
Foreigners or Spaniards 'will still travel, but they stay with
friends instead of hotels, and only eat out every second day,'
sources of the tourism professionals' association Exceltur said.
As result of the declining demand for travel and related services,
about 1,000 travel agency offices have closed within a year, the
tourism industry has cut tens of thousands of jobs, hotels are for
sale, and airlines bringing tourists to Spain are losing passengers.
Tour companies are fighting for survival, slashing prices by as
much as 35 per cent, the daily El Pais reported.
At the same time, the crisis has dealt a severe blow to Spain's
key construction industry, making the economy look like an airplane
with both of its engines broken, the daily El Mundo said.
Spanish authorities and tourism professionals are, however, aware
that the problems of the tourism industry are not caused only by the
economic crisis.
Spain is facing growing competition from cheaper beach holiday
destinations such as Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Croatia or the
Dominican Republic.
In the longer term, Spanish tourism could also be affected by
global warming, which could encourage northern European tourists to
spend their holidays closer to home.
The only solution is for Spain to diversify its tourism offer,
about 70 per cent of which is still based on the traditional formula
of the sea and sun, experts agree.
'Spain should follow the example of some regions in Italy and
France,' economist Josep Oliver said. 'It is not a question of
getting as many people to come as possible, but of how much they
spend.'
The government is investing hundreds of millions of euros in the
so-called Renove plan to modernize the tourist industry, which is
trying to raise its quality and diversify the offer to include urban
and cultural tourism.
The city of Barcelona, for instance, is now earning more from
tourism than the Costa Brava coast, and the Basque city of Bilbao
became a major tourist destination after opening the Guggenheim
Bilbao modern art museum in 1997.
Spain cannot do without its tourism industry, which needs be
integrated into the more competitive economic model that the
government is promoting, Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said.
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