Madrid, The Indonesia Post – Spain received four million tourist arrivals in March 2022, an eight-fold increase compared with the same month last year, data from the National Institutes of Statistics said on Thursday.
This figure comes after the easing of restrictions related to the pandemic.
Tourists spent 5.07 billion euros, or around Rp 718 trillion, while on vacation in the country in March. That’s an increase from 544 million euros a year earlier, according to the data.
“Spain closed the first quarter with good data on tourist arrivals and spending, a trend we hope will continue to increase in the summer,” Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said in a tweet.
“The good jobs numbers along with the recovery of air capacity make us optimistic,” he added.
The number of tourists visiting Spain in March was still 1.6 million fewer than in March 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The total expenditure recorded at that time was 6.03 billion euros.
International travel restrictions related to COVID-19 have put pressure on Spain’s tourism sector which was so vital to the country’s economy in 2020.
The tourism sector contributed 12 percent to the Spanish economy before the pandemic.
The industry began to recover gradually in 2021, with a brief respite as the spread of Omicron variants led to a new phase of enacting travel restrictions. (ojn/bbs)
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