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- QROPS – HMRC Introduces changes that create havoc in the market place
- QROPS – All Change From April 2012
- Liva & Laia : 15th November
The number of foreign visitors coming to Spain rose by 4.7% last month based on the same period last year - the fist increase in figures reported since the summer of 2009.
Statistics provided by Spain's Ministry of Industry revealed how 2.66 Million visitors entered the country in January - and increase of 119,000 more visitors om January 2010.
The British accounted for 500,619 of the figure, however, as visitors from Britain are still 5.3% down on January 2010. German and French visitor numbers increased by 5.5% and 0.6% respectively. Although much smaller by volume, the numbers of Italian visitors increased by a whopping 36.1% increase, notably for visitors to Madrid and Barcelona.
The increase in visitor numbers brought a shift in accomodation trends, with hotel booking falling by 0.8%, and all other forms of accomodation, including Villa rentals, growing by 14%. The number of tourists opting for package holidays fell by 5.1%, whilst the numbers of visitors booking their own flight and accomodation rose by 9.3%.
The Valencian region in particular received a 20% increase in visitor numbers last month compared with January 2010, with a total of 257,968 foreign tourists.
The Canary Islands remains the most popular Spanish destination for foriegn tourists, with 866,476 visitors last month, bringing an increase of 8.8% compared to January 2010.