Andalusia, the second largest autonomous community in Spain, reported 11.5% of overnight stays in May. Conflict in Egypt however is likely to negatively affect local tourism.
The Andalusian Minister of Trade and Tourism, Rafael Rodriguez, pointed out that Andalusia is a destination in itself. “It is attractive region with diverse offer to various kinds of travelers. It has potential to become one of the best tourist destinations in south Europe.”
Rodriguez however admitted that the political instability in Egypt will likely have some effect on local tourism. Rodriguez said that there has been a surge of visits during the month of May, before the conflict in Egypt. Andalusia recorded an increase of 11.5% of overnight stays in May, more than four points above the national average.
Rodriguez remained positive about June as well although he still did not have the data from a hotel occupancy survey of the National Statistics Institute. “These data will show if the events in Egypt had any effects on Andalusia’s competing destinations in the Mediterranean such as Turkey and Egypt,” he added.
Minister Rodriguez insisted that Andalusia wants to be competitive by itself. “We want the visitors to come and return to the community thus we must work hard on the quality of tourism services and customer satisfaction.”
He explained that since tourism is a sensitive sector reacting to anything related to the economy, weather or security, the local tourism is likely to be hit by Egyptian conflicts.