Canaries lead tourism in Spain

The Canary Islands are the leading international tourist destination with 32.2% of arrivals in Spain (1.7 million tourists) in the first two months of the year, representing an increase of 13.5% over the same period last year (2010).

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce reported that Spain has received in the first two months of the year 5.5 million international tourists, representing an increase of 4.5% over the same period last year,

This increase represents the arrival of 235,000 international tourists, supported by growth in February, from 4.3% to 2.8 million, after the falls recorded in the same month in the previous two years.

Canaries has seen the arrival of around 1.800.000 tourists in the first two months of 2011.

In February alone, the Canary Islands received 18.5% more foreign tourists. Despite this significant growth, the United Kingdom tourism fell by 5.8% in February in all Spanish destinations. The biggest growth market in percentage terms, was that of the Netherlands, 23%, and the arrival of 217,485 tourists, while the Italians maintained a steady increase, with 397,392 tourists, an increase of 18.3%. Regarding the type of accommodation, 61.7% of tourists stayed in hotels, representing an increase of 4.2%.