1 million fewer tourists visit Spain in July

Spain’s government is worried about a slowdown in tourism as fewer Brits, French and Germans arrive on its shores in 2018.

Coming just six months after Spain smashed its tourism record, the government is now concerned with a surprising drop in numbers of visitors during the first six months of 2018.

82 million vacationers spent their holidays in Spain during  2017, with 42 million of them visiting from Germany, Britain and France.

According to an August 2018 report by national tourism body Turespaña, the most important third-quarter numbers could show a “decline or stagnation” when it comes to overnight stays.

According to José Luis Zoreda, vice president of Spanish tourism lobby Exceltur, it’s important for the industry “to not fall into defeatism, get nervous or fall into the temptation” of lowering prices.

Zoreda told Spanish daily newspaper El País that the “slowdown” of the sector, is greater than expected and can be largely blamed on the “mesmerizing” recovery of Turkey, which has also been favoured by the recent depreciation of the Turkish lira.

“Spain must compete for differentiation, for quality, not for the price,” he warns.

Spain is of course tied to the Euro while Turkey has seen a massive decline in the value of the Turkish lira which has plummeted in value by 40% since the start of the year.

Tourists that would normally have come to Spain, are now flocking to the Mediterranean resorts around Antalya for bargain-basement priced vacations.