In 2022, tourism represented 12.2% of the Spanish Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1.4% more than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
The revelation was made by Exceltur, the main tourist association in the neighboring country, which classifies last year as the one that “marks the complete recovery of tourist activity in Spain.”
According to data from Exceltur, the Spanish tourist GDP was around 159,490 million euros, 2,135 million euros more than in 2019 and 62,363 million euros more than in 2021.
The weight of tourism in the total Spanish economy was 12.2%, slightly below the 12.6% that weighed in GDP 2019.
Employment levels for tourism companies and also surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
However, according to the same report, “the remarkable recovery of revenues in 2022 was not noticed or transferred with the same intensity to the results” of companies in the sector, due to the increases in costs associated with inflation.
It was domestic demand that most contributed to the recovery of Spanish tourism, especially after April, after the last wave of covid-19 and the end of most restrictions.
There was also a strong recovery in demand from foreign tourists, with emphasis on markets such as Mexico (with a 17.6% increase in overnight stays compared to 2019) and European markets such as the Netherlands (13% more), Luxembourg and Belgium (up 5.6%), Ireland (up 7.2%), Portugal (5.9%) and France (up 0.6%).
