Despite the damaging effects of the financial crisis and ensuing economic slowdown, Spain has been able to hold on to its position as the number one tourist destination among UK tourists. And while the overall number of UK holidaymakers travelling to Spain is still well below pre-financial crisis levels, the number of trips taken to Spain by UK tourists has been steadily rising since 2011. The expected reduction of pressure on household budgets in 2014 should help to boost demand even further during that year, and over the next several years.
There are of course challenges ahead. In some regards, the popularity of Spain can be considered a doubled edged sword. It validates the country as an attractive tourist destination, but at the same time could cause people to perceive it as an unoriginal one. In addition, competition from other short-haul destinations, such as Portugal and Turkey is intensifying. Indeed, although still ranked highly, Spain has been replaced by neighbouring Portugal as the top value destination in Europe in the Post Office’s 2014 Holiday Costs Barometer.
In this report Mintel examines holidays taken to Spain by UK residents, and provides five-year value and volume forecasts of the market. It investigates the key challenges facing industry stakeholders in 2014 and also details the main drivers influencing market conditions. In addition, the report also uses Mintel’s exclusive consumer research to gain valuable insight into people’s attitudes and behaviour in regard to Spain as a holiday destination.
Definition
This report examines the habits and attitudes of British holidaymakers concerning holidays to Spain. A holiday must constitute at least one overnight stay. The business travel market is not reviewed in this report.
An adult, for the purposes of Mintel’s research, is anyone aged 16 or over.
The standard travel and tourism definitions used in the terminology of this report are as follows:
Tourism is any travel which involves at least one overnight stay away from home.
A holiday is a subjectively defined form of tourism, as defined by the tourist in response to surveys such as the IPS. A holiday can be distinguished from other leisure travel such as visits to friends and relatives (VFR) or shopping trips.
Short-haul refers destinations within Europe. The following destinations are considered to be short-haul: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus EU, Cyprus Non-EU, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Other Europe.
The Canaries are included as a part of the Spanish market, and Madeira and the Azores are included as part of the Portuguese market.
Long-haul refers to destinations outside of Europe.
A package holiday is defined as the simultaneous sale of at least two elements of a holiday to the traveller: fares on public transport (eg flights) and commercial accommodation (eg hotel or self-catering apartment). Other elements, such as meals or excursions, are not essential to the definition of an inclusive tour. The term ‘all-inclusive’ is used to describe a special type of resort holiday in which food, drink, excursions and other services are provided as part of the total holiday cost.
An independent holiday is one in which the traveller organises and books transport and accommodation from separate sources.
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