Turespaña assure that the Russian operators estimate that 72% of the travellers choose Malaga
The Costa del Sol gains ground in the awakening of Russian tourism towards Spain. In the touristic launching of this market, after the speeding up of the visa proceedings, Malaga province has become the second Spanish destination in which the arrival of travellers from Russia has most grown. According to the figures provided by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, the Russian market’s touristic season has closed this year with a 72% increase in arrivals at the Costa del Sol, even surpassing the evolution experienced by the Costa Brava, that is usually the priority destination of these travellers. Only Mallorca, with a 79% rise, surpasses the results obtained in the province based on the figures provided by the main Slavic operators to the central government.
Rising prices
These tour groups also pointed out that the average price of the packages commercialised towards Spain have increased by 6%, although this has not affected the bookings.
The Ministry in charge of the Tourism stated that during the first nine months of the year, the issuance of visas increased by 58.5% compared to the same period. Only in the month of September, the Spanish Consulate in Moscow issued 68.500 permits, which meant an increase of almost 48 points.
Turespaña highlighted that this rise of Russian travellers has also meant an increase of air connections. In this sense, they pointed out that this year 25 Russian cities operated direct flights to Spain. Malaga even maintains, during the winter season, a direct route to and from Moscow with the airline company Aeroflot.
The foresights of the General Secretary of Tourism and Trade, managed by Joan Mesquida, indicate that during 2011 Spain will double the number of Russian tourists in comparison to 2009. An upturn that will mean reaching a figure of almost a million tourists. In fact, these figures confirm that it’s a market that has just taken off and that it will maintain the upward trend for the next couple of years, period in which the amount of arriving travellers will double once again. These expectations justify that the Russian market, together with the Arab countries, will become priority objectives in the promotion plan for 2012.
Just this week the government began a campaign to promote Andalusia’s main attractions in Russia and Poland and revealed that these markets have registered high increases of both, travellers and overnight stays, in the present year, with the overnight stays in Andalusian accomodations increasing by 36% in the case of the Russian tourists and by 58% in the case of the Poles.
The Tourist board explained that between the months of January and October, 69.475 travellers from Russia that stayed in Andalusian hotels, 28.8% more than during the same period last year, made 266.430 overnight stays with an average period of 3.83 days.
To this they add that over the first ten months of the year, the hotels of the region received 91.941 tourists from Poland, 41.9% more than last year, who made 318.271 stays in Andalusian hotels with an average period of 3.46 days.
