THE average Spanish resident will spend between €500 and €1,500 on their holidays this year, with three in 10 set to increase their budget from last year and 16% reducing it.
British tourists wanted: Spain's off to London World Travel Market
28/10/2021
NOVEMBER is set to open with Spaniards pouring into London – town halls and regional governments will be descending on the UK capital to show the country's residents why they should be heading for Spain.
The World Travel Market (WTM) is, along with FITUR in Madrid at the beginning of each year, one of the planet's largest tourism trade fairs, and any location in Spain which wants to encourage visitors from beyond national borders makes sure that even if they cannot get to any other, similar event, these two dates are firmly circled in their diaries.
For three days, destinations worldwide, emerging and established, will be attending to tour operators and other businesses in the travel industry, and to the general public, showing what they have to offer.
FITUR and the WTM are normally when Spain's globally-famous beach-holiday hotspots make a concerted effort to prove they have plenty more besides a coast and a sun shining on it for several months of the year – mild winters, springlike weather in autumn, and springs themselves more like a northern European summer mean the climate is always attractive to those in colder countries, even if it is not always 'sun-tan and seaside' weather, which makes exploring countryside, historic buildings and beautiful, colourful and ornate towns and cities much pleasanter than doing so in freezing downpours and blizzards.
Gandia: Beach breaks for Brits who 'want to avoid the Brits'
Gandia, southern Valencia province, has announced it will be at the WTM, since although its tourism industry relies heavily on its beaches, the overwhelming majority of visitors to this town of around 78,000 inhabitants are from other parts of Spain, typically Madrid and other northern, inland locations – British holidaymakers in Gandia can normally be counted on one hand with fingers left over, and the small community of foreign tourists is predominantly French.
Being largely outside the traditional northern European 'expat belt', but just a few kilometres away from the Alicante-province border and towns where residents from this part of the continent are much more numerous, Gandia gives visitors the best of both worlds: If you want to stay away from purpose-built package resort areas and experience Spain as its inhabitants do, then you will, but if you need the kind of support that international holidaymakers do and permanent residents do not – such as someone who speaks your language – it's not difficult to find.
For this reason, Gandia, despite already having a thriving tourism industry, considers the UK to be an untapped resource and is keen to break into the British market.
Helpfully, Gandia town and Gandia beach are on the end of a direct train line from central Valencia, which is, in turn, directly linked by underground rail to Valencia airport – right into the terminal – so you can hop straight off your plane onto a train on the same premises, cross the street, catch another, and you're in Gandia within just over an hour and a half and for little more than €10 a head for the entire trip.
Rincón de la Victoria: 'Typical Spain' on the Costa del Sol
Another town in the heart of 'holiday country', but which is on its way to the WTM because it believes it could do with more British visitors, is Rincón de la Victoria, in the province of Málaga.
“Andalucía and the Costa del Sol [Málaga-province coast] have an enormous presence [at the WTM], where they will be holding various meetings in order to try to consolidate Rincón de la Victoria in this hugely-powerful market,” says tourism councillor Antonio José Martín.
Mayor Francisco Salgado adds: “We have some truly unique weather and conditions here, where you can combine sports, beach and culture in one holiday.”
Whilst promoting Costa del Sol holidays to the British may seem a little like advertising paella in Valencia, popcorn in a cinema or petrol to car-owners, Rincón de la Victoria still seems to suffer a tiny bit from being so close to the main coastal holiday hubs that you pass it without noticing.
At least, if you're from abroad – the vast majority of the town's holidaymakers are from other parts of Spain, meaning its industry is booming, and even more so in 'Covid times' when international travel took a nosedive everywhere in the world and staycations became the number one option for annual breaks.
That said, Rincón de la Victoria does have some foreign tourists, and Brits make up the highest percentage of these – three in 10 – with the French only slightly behind.
Germans are also a significant fraction of Rincón de la Victoria's international visitor community, making up around three in 20, or roughly 50% of the Brits' numbers.
So the town is not entirely overlooked by UK nationals, but they are far fewer in number than elsewhere on the Costa del Sol, and the local council hopes this will change.
It is another location where you can literally have your cake and eat it; the facilities and excellent weather, and the experience of catering for British holidaymakers, are right on the doorstep, but Rincón de la Victoria remains very 'typically Spanish', with a lot of its summer visitors being residents in Antequera just up the road who move to their second home on the beach for a few months.
You'll find it just cosmopolitan enough to give it texture and variety and, if you're British, will find just enough of your compatriots to make you feel at home, but not so many it feels like a warmer outpost of the UK coast; it's a 'safe' way of experiencing 'real Spain' if you're worried about stepping too far beyond your comfort zone or are concerned about language barriers.
The WTM runs from Monday, November 1 to Wednesday, November 3 inclusive.
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NOVEMBER is set to open with Spaniards pouring into London – town halls and regional governments will be descending on the UK capital to show the country's residents why they should be heading for Spain.
The World Travel Market (WTM) is, along with FITUR in Madrid at the beginning of each year, one of the planet's largest tourism trade fairs, and any location in Spain which wants to encourage visitors from beyond national borders makes sure that even if they cannot get to any other, similar event, these two dates are firmly circled in their diaries.
For three days, destinations worldwide, emerging and established, will be attending to tour operators and other businesses in the travel industry, and to the general public, showing what they have to offer.
FITUR and the WTM are normally when Spain's globally-famous beach-holiday hotspots make a concerted effort to prove they have plenty more besides a coast and a sun shining on it for several months of the year – mild winters, springlike weather in autumn, and springs themselves more like a northern European summer mean the climate is always attractive to those in colder countries, even if it is not always 'sun-tan and seaside' weather, which makes exploring countryside, historic buildings and beautiful, colourful and ornate towns and cities much pleasanter than doing so in freezing downpours and blizzards.
Gandia: Beach breaks for Brits who 'want to avoid the Brits'
Gandia, southern Valencia province, has announced it will be at the WTM, since although its tourism industry relies heavily on its beaches, the overwhelming majority of visitors to this town of around 78,000 inhabitants are from other parts of Spain, typically Madrid and other northern, inland locations – British holidaymakers in Gandia can normally be counted on one hand with fingers left over, and the small community of foreign tourists is predominantly French.
Being largely outside the traditional northern European 'expat belt', but just a few kilometres away from the Alicante-province border and towns where residents from this part of the continent are much more numerous, Gandia gives visitors the best of both worlds: If you want to stay away from purpose-built package resort areas and experience Spain as its inhabitants do, then you will, but if you need the kind of support that international holidaymakers do and permanent residents do not – such as someone who speaks your language – it's not difficult to find.
For this reason, Gandia, despite already having a thriving tourism industry, considers the UK to be an untapped resource and is keen to break into the British market.
Helpfully, Gandia town and Gandia beach are on the end of a direct train line from central Valencia, which is, in turn, directly linked by underground rail to Valencia airport – right into the terminal – so you can hop straight off your plane onto a train on the same premises, cross the street, catch another, and you're in Gandia within just over an hour and a half and for little more than €10 a head for the entire trip.
Rincón de la Victoria: 'Typical Spain' on the Costa del Sol
Another town in the heart of 'holiday country', but which is on its way to the WTM because it believes it could do with more British visitors, is Rincón de la Victoria, in the province of Málaga.
“Andalucía and the Costa del Sol [Málaga-province coast] have an enormous presence [at the WTM], where they will be holding various meetings in order to try to consolidate Rincón de la Victoria in this hugely-powerful market,” says tourism councillor Antonio José Martín.
Mayor Francisco Salgado adds: “We have some truly unique weather and conditions here, where you can combine sports, beach and culture in one holiday.”
Whilst promoting Costa del Sol holidays to the British may seem a little like advertising paella in Valencia, popcorn in a cinema or petrol to car-owners, Rincón de la Victoria still seems to suffer a tiny bit from being so close to the main coastal holiday hubs that you pass it without noticing.
At least, if you're from abroad – the vast majority of the town's holidaymakers are from other parts of Spain, meaning its industry is booming, and even more so in 'Covid times' when international travel took a nosedive everywhere in the world and staycations became the number one option for annual breaks.
That said, Rincón de la Victoria does have some foreign tourists, and Brits make up the highest percentage of these – three in 10 – with the French only slightly behind.
Germans are also a significant fraction of Rincón de la Victoria's international visitor community, making up around three in 20, or roughly 50% of the Brits' numbers.
So the town is not entirely overlooked by UK nationals, but they are far fewer in number than elsewhere on the Costa del Sol, and the local council hopes this will change.
It is another location where you can literally have your cake and eat it; the facilities and excellent weather, and the experience of catering for British holidaymakers, are right on the doorstep, but Rincón de la Victoria remains very 'typically Spanish', with a lot of its summer visitors being residents in Antequera just up the road who move to their second home on the beach for a few months.
You'll find it just cosmopolitan enough to give it texture and variety and, if you're British, will find just enough of your compatriots to make you feel at home, but not so many it feels like a warmer outpost of the UK coast; it's a 'safe' way of experiencing 'real Spain' if you're worried about stepping too far beyond your comfort zone or are concerned about language barriers.
The WTM runs from Monday, November 1 to Wednesday, November 3 inclusive.
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
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