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Andalucía's tourism sector has had a summer to remember. Hotels across the region recorded 7.72 million overnight stays in August, a rise of 2% on the same month in 2015 and, if the provisional figures hold, the best August result since records began back in 1999.

 

It's not just about numbers through the door either. The region's hotels also pulled in strong earnings, with an average daily rate of €177.92, up 7.10% year on year, and revenue per available room reaching €137.73, a rise of 7.05%.

 

Foreign visitors played a big part in the growth, with 984,579 international tourists staying in Andalusian hotels during August, a 4% increase, and their overnight stays climbing 3.1% to 3.54 million. Domestic tourism held steady too, with travellers up 1.4% and overnight stays rising 1.1%. Hotel occupancy reached 73.3%, up 1.8 percentage points on 2015, and the sector supported 60,597 jobs during the month, nearly 10% more than the year before.

 

Unsurprisingly, the Costa del Sol proved the biggest draw of all, with an average daily rate of €223.50 and a RevPAR of €197.05, comfortably outpacing both the Costa de la Luz in Huelva and its counterpart in Cádiz. Within Málaga province, some towns commanded genuinely eye watering prices. Estepona topped the list with an average nightly rate of €418.05, followed by Marbella at €377.80, while Torremolinos and Nerja both broke the €200 barrier for the first time this season.

 

Looking province by province, Córdoba actually saw the fastest growth in overnight stays, up 11.2%, followed by Cádiz, Jaén and Seville. Manuel Gavira, the region's Second Vice President and Minister of Tourism, said the figures reflect "the strength of Andalusian tourism and its capacity to grow on already historic records."

 

Air travel tells a similar story. Andalusian airports handled 2.04 million passengers in August, a 7.2% rise, with international arrivals up 9%. Almería's airport saw the sharpest growth of all at 19.2%, while Málaga remained the region's main gateway with 9.63 million passengers so far this year.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, the January to August period brought 41.13 million overnight stays across Andalucía, a 3.1% rise and, if confirmed, the best start to a year on record, surpassing the 39.91 million recorded over the same period in 2015. As Gavira put it, the aim now is to keep Andalucía "increasingly competitive, better connected and able to turn its tourism leadership into employment, investment and opportunities."

 

 

Image: Liisbet Luup/Pexels