PENINSULA | WHAT THE MEDIA SAYSMONEY MARKET

SPAIN: SPECIAL COMMERCIAL SUPPLEMENT 16/10/2006

British enthusiasm for Spain still strong says tour board

After more than 30 years of mass

tourism from the UK to Spain, the British

love affair with the beaches, cities and

astonishing landscape of the country

still rages.

More than 16 million Britons visit

Spain each year, making them the number

one holidaymaking nation by some

distance. “There has been a constant

slow rise in the number of British people

visiting Spain”, said a representative of

Turespana, the national agency with

offices in the Uk and around the world.

Yet there have been some important

differences in the destinations chosen

in recent years. The advent of budget

air travel to many new locationes has

encouraged visitors to look beyond the

Costas and branch out into previously

unfamiliar towns and cities, according

to Turespana. “Budget air travel has

opened up the city break market in

Spain”, says the representative. “While

numbers going to the Balearics are

slightly down, for example, Bilbao has

seen many more visitors. Overall numbers

are around the same as previous years,

but they are more eenly spreads”.

Spain´s 17 regions each offer

something distinct and exciting, from the

Spain has 17 distinct regions, each offering visitors something different and unique.

local dining specialities to the historical

buildings, festivals and museums. “Each

region is like a separate country”,

as Turespana puts it.

Two future events in Spain are

already causing a stir among British

holidaymarkets: the Americas Cup–the

world´s premier yatching event- is to

be held off the coast of Valencia next

year, with more than a million visitors

expected to turn up as the fastest and

most expensive racing yatchs on earth

pit themselves against one another

in the breezy waters.

The city has been preparing for

the event in the way that others look

forward to the Olympics, with new

facilities and developments springing

up along the coastline.

Then in 2008 Zaragoza will host

an international Expo, once again

providing the impetus for f resh

development and new buildings in this

little known city in the Aragon region.

Many hundreds of thousands of

people are expected to visit the city

for this event.

Spain may be ever more familiar

to the British, but the love affair just

grows stronger.