Less tourists on the beaches in Spain and Tenerife
Europe’s top tourist destinations – France, the world’s most popular tourist destination, with 79.3 million visitors last year, has been hit hard by a drop in the number of foreign travellers.
The number of international visitors to France in the heat of the summer – July and August – has fallen by nearly one-third, after sinking by 15.5 per cent in the first five months of the year, government figures show.
Spain, the third most popular destination last year, has suffered a 10 per cent drop in visits this summer, following an 11.4 per cent fall in the first half of the year, and Italy is forecasting an 8.3 per cent drop in foreign visitors between May and October.
As frugal foreigners stay in their home countries, Europe’s top tourist destinations are looking at their compatriots to compensate.
According to a Gallup poll, 48 per cent of Europeans plan to spend their holidays in their own countries this year, compared with 43 per cent last year.
Britons, the continent’s top travellers after Germans, have reduced their European trips by 10 per cent. As a result, the beaches of Spain, usually crowded with British and German tourists, are emptier than usual.
Spain last year lost its spot as the second most visited country, as the US took its place with 58 million visitors compared with 57.3 million. The Spanish Government is spending €1 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to support the tourism industry.
As in other European countries, tourists are drinking and eating less in Spain’s usually bustling bars and restaurants. Beer consumption is expected to fall by 13.5 per cent this month compared with last year, Spanish brewers say.
Despite this summer of discontent, France should remain the world’s top tourist choice because travel was down in every country at ”about the same rate,” said Christian Mantei, president of the tourism development agency Atout France.
