Torrevieja's Tourism figures

The Tourist visitor numbers for Torrevieja are just in and the good news for local business is that they are on the up!

According to the Municipal Tourism Agency, in August alone, Spain received almost 7.5 million foreign tourists, a rise of 9.6% on 2010 which, resulted in spending of around €7,000 million. This trend, according to Turismo Torrevieja is also reflected locally with noted improvements in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, Canary Islands and throughout Valencia.

According to the British Council in Alicante, the region receives over 3.5 million visitors from the UK alone and for those that thrive on statistics and numbers, in August 2011 Torrevieja saw an increase in visits to Tourist information offices in the city, up to 18,000 visitors garnering 30,000 enquiries, while Hotel Occupancy was at 90%. However, the Hotels are nothing to be too excited about a the city only has 1,500 beds at the moment but the Town Council and Tourism Department are doing everything in their power to attract new Hotel construction to the area.
 
These results marry perfectly with the national dynamics, characterized by an increase in visits. Spain received nearly 32.3 million International tourists between January and July 2011, a 7.4% increase. Valencia is ranked as the third largest community and all this pointed to a positive rate of change between January and July in terms of numbers, with the international tourist flow, showing an increase of 6.5%. In Torrevieja, from January to July travel motivation was focused on leisure and visiting family or friends, with weekend trips predominating.

Councillor for Tourism, Luis Maria Pizana Boj, highlighted the excellent attendance figures collected in the city’s tourism offices during August of 9373-visitors, which if you add in July’s 8472 visitors, all goes towards confirming that summer 2011 was very positive for the local tourism sector,. Pizana Boj also stresses that although Summer figures show that confidence is returning to the Tourism market that, "Torrevieja is attractive to tourists throughout the year offering diverse, differentiated and quality activities. We have much to offer as one of the most attractive Costa Blanca tourist destinations are we plus we are seeing the genesis of employment. All the best in tourism is coming to the city and as we build on the foundation stones of hospitality, professional services and education, everything will be much easier. "

While Spain’s major summer Tourism resort Benidorm noted a downturn in Spanish visitors, in Torrevieja the opposite was true, as the Spanish seem to be looking to get ‘Far from the maddening crowd’ offered by the cut price tour companies to Benidorm! Within the national scene-a total of 5,654 visitors popped into the tourism offices, mainly from Madrid, Basque Country, Castilla Leon, Castilla La Mancha and those that live local to the city. 

Most frequently asked questions were those related to local information, cultural activities, festivals and information for international residents. The international demand, showed a total of 3,719 visitors, was still dominated by tourists from UK but the month of August saw a considerable increase in French enquiries, which stood second. Third and fourth place came the Scandinavians and Germans.

Torrevieja only has three, three star hotels at the moment but although Torrevieja has been built on residential tourism over the past decade or so, Luis Maria Pizana remarked that "the occupation of Hotels was 90%, again figures well for a summer marked by a great influx of tourists, and the job creation will extend beyond the summer of 2011. To all this, we should add that the local authorities have noted increased water consumption and solid waste collection in the city over the summer of 2010” all pointing to increased growth in the residential tourism sector too.

Luis Maria Pizana wanted to thank all the tour agents and business centres in Torrevieja for showing “kindness to our visitors, offering quality services and factors which in itself, motivate more visitors to come to the city” In particular, he thanked all the personnel at the Tourism information offices, as well as for members of sectors such as hospitality and trade, the keys to tourism in Torrevieja, who look to the future as a destination of the first magnitude.

Keith Nicol