Tourism renaissance

Betty Henderson MARBELLA has achieved yet another milestone in its tourism industry. April witnessed a remarkable surge in hotel occupancy, reaching an astounding 74.14 per cent according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Friday, May 26.

This figure surpasses all previous records for the month. Laura de Arce, the Director of Tourism, expressed her satisfaction with the latest data, highlighting the significant growth in revenue per room booking, with an increase from €85.24 in 2019 and €121.23 in 2022 to an impressive €137.16 this year.

The average length of stay also rose to 3.66 days, contributing to a total of 281,450 overnight stays, a remarkable

31,000 more than the historically successful year of 2019.

In April, Marbella hosted a total of 76,798 guests, with 55,163 international tourists and 21,635 domestic visitors. De Arce emphasised the recovery of international visitors, constituting 72 per cent of the total, compared to 28 per cent of Spanish tourists.

Notably, visitors from England arrived in exceptional numbers, surpassing pre­pandemic figures with 16,173 arrivals, compared to 13,131 in 2019 and 15,856 in 2021.

Evidently, Marbella’s tourism sector is bouncing back, with both international and domestic visitors flocking to its shores.