Yesterday she said the formula of Sun and Beach was over. When the government returns from vacation in September, the official said, the ministry will begin exploring ways to make Spain less reliant on beach-based tourism, the driving engine of the industry for decades.
The reaction on the Costa Blanca has been harsh. Pere Joan Devesa, President of Benidorm's Hotel Association said it was like condemning a whole sector. He went on to say that her comments were ignorant and badly timed. He said she should resign. “Would the Industry Minister in Germany ever make a comment that car manufacturing had to stop because cars emitted CO2?”
The changes the Government want could have far-reaching consequences for the Spanish economy, whose tourism industry accounts for 12 percent of gross domestic product and supports 10 percent of the Spanish labour force. In the Valencian Community this percentage is much higher 1 in 4 are employed in the tourist or allied industries.
The government's shift comes as tourism executives’ voice growing concern over the future of their industry, and amid expectations that summer tourism here is headed for its second consecutive decline.
More than 60 percent of hotels on the coasts expected summer sales to drop this year, according to Exceltur, an association of Spanish tourism companies. Notwithstanding the occupation on the Costa Blanca has maintained good levels although overall income has remained the same or even declined slightly.
Last year, the number of summer tourists coming to Spain fell nearly 3 percent, to about 24.5 million, according to the tourism ministry.
Travel executives say that the consecutive slowdowns have been a severe blow to many hotels on the coasts. "In some cases it's a tragedy, because some hotels get 80 percent of their business in the summer," said Domingo Luján, general manager of the Hotel Spa Porta Maris in Alicante.
In the full year, Spain draws more than 50 million foreign tourists, more than any country except France, according to the World Tourism Organization. About half of them come in the summer.
