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Spain receives record 64.99 mln int'l tourists in 2014

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spain received a record number of 64.99 million international tourists in 2014, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism Manuel Soria said on Thursday.

The figure meant a 7.1 percent increase in comparison with a year earlier, when Spain set a new record in the number of international tourists.

The figure announced on Thursday meant that 2014 is the best year in history when it comes to the number of international arrivals, Soria said.

The number of tourists arriving from Britain reached 15 million, 4.7 percent up on a year earlier. The British were followed by the French and Germans whose arrivals increased by 11.3 percent to 10.6 million and by 5.7 percent to 10.4 million respectively.

According to Soria, the northeastern region of Catalonia and the archipelagos of the Canary and Balearic Islands were chosen as the main destinations in 2014, their arrivals accounted for 60 percent of the total.

Regarding tourists spending, Soria predicted they spent around 63 billion euros (71.899 billion U.S. dollars) last year, a higher figure than that of 2013 when they spent 59 billion euros.

Tourism is a driving force for Spain's economy, which has been suffering from an economic recession and high unemployment rates over the last years.

Soria said the sector created 65,000 new job opportunities in 2014, 3.4 percent up on a year earlier.

Spain is the worlds' number three tourist destination, after France and the United States. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars) Enditem