In 2024, Spain saw over half a million visitors from the GCC region, an increase of 20 per cent over when compared to 2023 and 60 per cent, when compared to 2019. While final numbers haven’t been shared officially, it is estimated that 550,000 GCC tourists visited Spain from the Gulf region – and with a very good average expenditure, TTN has learnt in an interview with Carlos Ruiz González, the recently appointed Director of Spain’s Tourist Office for GCC countries
“The GCC remains a very interesting market for us,” he continues, “The visitor numbers are increasing, the spend is high.”
“Our main objective is to try to diversify destinations within Spain, encouraging more people to visit other places in Spain. Also, we will be trying to encourage travel not just in the peak summer season but throughout the year,” he says.
Turespaña – Spain’s Tourist Office – is owned by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism in Spain, and one of their key objectives is to become one of the most sustainable tourist destinations in the world, not only environmentally, but also socially and economically.
“We want our people – the Spanish people - to really benefit from tourism. Sustainability is going to be key for us over the next few years.”
Expanding destination options and encouraging travel around the year is key to the agenda of avoiding overtourism and maintaining sustainability, explains Ruiz González.
While Barcelona, Madrid, Costa del Sol, have been traditionally important, travellers from the GCC have been increasingly visiting Valencia, big cities of Andalusia such as Seville, Córdoba and Granada, which are well known in the region and well connected, and the north of Spain – nicknamed Green Spain, where the director would love to see more travellers from the Gulf region.
Football is a major draw to Spain with its world-famous clubs and schools, while golf is also popular with the presence of several award-winning golf courses peppered across Spain. Shopping tourism continues to be important as well. “Travellers to Spain find good and attractive prices for shopping. We have a very efficient system for VAT refund – this is a big point for Spain. From shopping in Gran Via and Serrano in Madrid to Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, Spain offers a great luxury shopping experience. Of course, there are the big brands but also there’s no dearth of local artisans honing their craft.”
Ruiz González joined the GCC office in September 2024 and his efforts have been dedicated towards spreading awareness directly to travellers and, importantly, to the travel trade updating them on destinations, hotels. One of the major activations for Spain’s Tourist Office in the GCC this year is a workshop in partnership with Austria, Germany and France, which will take place in Dubai in April before the Arabian Travel Market.
“In the previous years, we did this only with France. This year we're joining forces with Austria and Germany for a two-day workshop. We will invite the key buyers from the GCC countries and each of the countries will have their offerings – their destinations and hotels.
“Of course, we'll also have a presence at ATM, also with some of our partners in Spain,” the director tells us.
For his first year as director, Ruiz González would like to work together with destinations to bring their roadshows in the Middle East, while also organising fam trips for travel agents to visit and experience Spain. He will also focus on consolidating a team in his UAE office, he tells us.
“We would like to – at the very least – maintain the interest in Spain that we have been seeing in the last few years, and try to get people to discover more destinations in Spain, not just the popular ones, and visit the country not just in summer, but also in winter, spring and autumn,” concludes Ruiz González.