Spain’s tourism minister said on Thursday that Spain expects to receive more tourists in the summer of 2023 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, after the number of international tourists in April was 1.2% higher than the same month in 2019.
“The data reflect an extraordinary recovery in tourism… everything seems to indicate that we are going to break records compared to 2019,” Hector Gomez told reporters at a five-star hotel in Madrid.
The government expects Spain to receive between 52.3 million and 54.8 million tourists between May and October, slightly more than the number of visitors for the same period in 2019, a record year for tourist inflows.
Kicking off the high season with Easter week, Spain welcomed 7.2 million international tourists in April, according to official figures.
The minister said that Spain’s priority is to attract travelers from distant markets such as the United States, China, South Korea and Japan. He said the government has recently held several meetings with Asian airlines to improve connectivity, and some routes will return this month.
The largest increase in the influx of foreign tourists in April came from the United States, according to official data.
Half of the tourists who fill Spain’s resort hotels and short stays during the summer are residents of the country.
Many were surprised when the general election was announced on July 23, in the middle of the holiday season.
“We do not have data on canceled flights… We do not expect the election call to affect tourism,” the minister added.
Before the pandemic, Spain’s tourism sector accounted for 12% of the economy, but by the mid-2020s it had stalled with international travel.
