Patronato de Turismo de la Costa del Sol

The president of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, Juan Fraile, and the manager of the entity, Juan Antonio Martín, presented the results of its efforts for the year 2004 on 24 January.The president of the institution said that 2004 was a good year for tourism on the Costa del Sol, as tourism figures produced by this Tourist Board showed. Last year, a total of 6,014,000 passengers arrived at Malaga Airport, which was an increase of 220,000 passengers, representing 3.8 per cent, with respect to the previous year.

An analysis of departure points for these tourists shows that 75 per cent of them came from international destinations, while Spanish passengers continue to increase, with one in four passengers being from destinations within Spain.

The United Kingdom continues to send most tourists to Malaga, the figure being 41.6 per cent of the total number, followed by national passengers, representing 24.3 per cent, and as we have mentioned above, representing one in four travellers to the airport.

With regard to cruise ships, 228 ships arrived in Malaga Port last year, representing an increase of 4.6 per cent in passenger numbers, with more than 209,000 cruise passengers.

The total number of travellers staying in hotels between January and December of 2004 was 3,573,643, while the number of overnight stays amounted to 15,060,278 in the same period. This means that the number of tourists staying in hotels has dropped by 1.8 per cent, while overnight stays dropped by 3.9 per cent for the year.

The number of hotels has risen considerably on the previous year. We had 339 in 2003, with 60,152 beds, and last year the figure rose to 366, with 65,458 beds. This means an increase of 8.82 per cent, which is quite relevant.

The increase in number of hotels and in residential tourism can partly explain the apparent drop in some figures, making it clear that we are in a period of change.

In conclusion, the president said that our province continues to receive more visitors each year, resulting in increased income from tourism on the Costa del Sol, tourism being the region's prime industry. This means that all of us directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector must adjust to changes in tourism trends, and, of course, continue to work towards producing better qualified professionals in the business, to improve the quality of out tourism offer at all levels. It is this very quality that has made us tourism leaders at world level.