Alicante province forecasts 3% increase in tourism during 2010

Tourism chiefs in Alicante are forecasting a 3% recovery from the British market during 2010. Local authorities and experts from within the business communities are both in agreement that the summer of 2010 will be better than the previous summer as far as British tourist numbers are concerned. Interest expressed in the province by the tourism industry at the FITUR international tourism fair last week further served to strengthen this belief.

Since 2007 tourist numbers have plummeted by between 15 and 20%.

Antonio Mayor, representing the Hostelry Business Association in Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, stated how the improved forecast comes following data obtained from a variety of sources during 2009 reflecting a growth in the confidence of the British tourist. He said surveys showed that about 50% of the eight million Britons who stayed at home last year, have said they will be travelling abroad again this year.

Mayor also reported how 2010 would see the annual ITT, Institute of Travel and Tourism congress in Benidorm in June, as well as three stages of the Vuelta de España cycle race in September, and the second edition of the ‘Best of Gastronomy’ congress in November.