Last year the Valencian Community shattered its tourist records and this year it is on track to remain at the same level, and even surpass it. This is the message conveyed today by the Minister of Tourism Nuria Montes, who has presented the data for 2023 and the forecasts for 2024. Last year, the figure of 28.5 million tourists was reached, both national and international” and, In addition, sales in the tourism sector increased by 16.6% compared to 2019.
Another significant figure is the increase in total spending: national tourists spent 5.34% more compared to 2022, but above all, spending by international tourists increased, up to 23.4% compared to 2022. The graph presented by Montes, who performs especially well in these presentations, shows how spending has grown especially since the pandemic: if in 2021 4,372.35 million euros were recorded, in 2023 it has been 12,771.02 million euros.
“Our international tourism is one of the pillars and there we have important plans to grow,” explained Montes, who has reviewed the capacities of the Valencian airports, “to the limit” he pointed out, and has highlighted that also “in our hands, the Castellón airport will once again give positive results.”
For Nuria Montes, “the data for 2023 are very good, but what is truly interesting is all the perspectives that we have already evaluated for the year 2024, and all of them make us think that we will once again be in the best year for tourism, speaking in all variables.” . And as the industry councilor explained, “in January and February we have already exceeded the sales forecast that our tourism intelligence system gave us.”
In the presentation, the councilor also put the focus back on the elimination of the tourist tax when explaining the evolution of Revpar (revenue per available room). “The gap we have is 10 euros and that means that the market cannot assume more taxes without the economy suffering,” Montes assured, adding that anyone who does not see it is because “they do not know how the tourism sector works.” .
Previously, the now defunct tourist tax – which was not applied as it came into force, for municipal application, in 2024 – had starred in the beginning of the speech by President Carlos Mazón, who pointed out that this is “the first Fitur in which “The Valencian Community comes without a fee or taxes and without putting a damper on the competitiveness of the tourism sector.”
Their complicity with the sector, which Montes has defined as “absolute alignment”, has also been perceived in the defense of the behavior of the tourism industry in pricing policies: “The sector has not even passed on all the increase in costs to the final consumer.” that has lived and that ultimately reflects the criterion of social sustainability, protecting the Spanish middle class so that they can be users of tourism,” defended the councilor.