The latest Statistics of Tourist Movements at Borders (INE) reveals that in the first 11 months of 2023 the number of tourists increased by 18.2% and up to 0.8% above the data from 2019, prior to the pandemic. Throughout the year, according to data provided by the Ministry of Industry, the increase was 22% compared to 2022 and 1% above 2019.
A record that in the Valencian Community also translated into the record of its historical maximum in international tourism, since more than 9.7 million international tourists arrived in those months. Until now, the absolute record in foreign tourism was 9.5 million arrivals in the year before the pandemic, the always benchmark 2019.
Next Wednesday at Fitur, the international tourism fair in Madrid, the sector’s minister, Nuria Montes, will present the results for 2023 and give the forecasts for 2024, which, as she herself pointed out this past week in the presentation of the Valencian stand at The fair looks set to be another record-breaking exercise.
In this successful setting, the event par excellence of the tourism sector is held, where the Valencian Community goes with everything, as they say. The Valencian delegation, headed by President Carlos Mazón, will carry out more than 200 activities during the fair focused on establishing agreements and expanding contacts with the main tour operators, airlines, travel agents or professionals from different fields, among others.
More than 500 co-exhibitors will participate in the Valencian Community space, of which 261 will be companies and tourism entities. Of these, 158 firms specialized in products, 19 technological and 28 in the festival area. The highest representative of the Valencian Executive emphasizes that the final objective of this fair is for “our companies to close agreements and expand their business to sell our product and destination.”
In parallel, Administrations, and also companies, focus on sustainability. Mazón emphasizes that the Generalitat Valenciana is working together with all the agents involved in “positioning the Valencian Community as the first fully sustainable destination.”
The Administration seeks to implement actions that “favor the deseasonalization of the sector”, such as attracting sports tourism to attract travelers to the interior, since sun and beach destinations have already confirmed their undoubted tourist success.
However, not even Benidorm gives up seeking tourists in the middle of winter, as demonstrated by the celebration of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup that was held yesterday in the capital of La Marina Baixa. València will also play that trick and its City Council will present the 2024 sports agenda in Madrid: the Ironman 70.3, the FIA ??World Motorsport Games, the Triathlon World Cup or the 25th Anniversary of the HM the Queen of Sailing Cup.
In the sustainable discourse, València will have a lot to point out, which as the European Green Capital travels to Madrid “showing off, not only the newly launched Capital, but also a good moment in which tourist activity is growing in a sustained and sustainable way” , according to its Councilor for Tourism, Innovation and Investments, Paula Llobet.
The mayor maintains that the recognition of València is “a powerful brand with international impact that we must rely on to consolidate our story as a Mediterranean tourist destination.” Publications such as the recent inclusion of The New York Times in its list will undoubtedly help. of the 52 best destinations to travel in 2024.
Meanwhile, the sector has a hot potato on its hands and that is the problem with tourist apartments and how their proliferation, without much control in recent years, is putting pressure on neighborhoods in all cities, causing a gentrification that many are already denouncing.
Debates such as the first Conference on Tourismification held this past Saturday in the La Raïosa neighborhood of València show that it is not only the historic center of the cities that is exposed to mass tourism and shows that the neighborhood community also demands a sustainable model and balanced. The new challenges are already on the table.
