The total number of seats planned on international flights to Spain for the month of January 2024 reaches 7.4 million, according to data released by Turespaña. Compared to the same month in 2023, when 6.6 million were offered, the year-on-year increase is 13%.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, considers that “this forecast confirms the strength of tourism in Spain, with data that predicts an excellent year in 2024, just as 2023 has been, where we have already surpassed pre-pandemic figures.”
Comparing the forecasts for the number of seats in January 2024 with the data recorded on the equivalent date of 2023, the good performance of the main issuing markets continues, the United Kingdom (+5.9%), Germany (+12.2%), and Italy (+20.7%).
The accelerated increases in Poland and the Czech Republic stand out again, with increases of more than 50%.
Additionally, Ireland, the United States, Colombia, Austria and Turkey also present significant increases of more than 15%.
Whereas this may be seen as positive news for the tourism sector, considering the state of the planet and the adverse weather caused by climate change globally, the environmentally conscious may not see it quite as favourably.
In fact, according to the most recent figures published by Eurocontrol, in November 2023, pollution caused by aircraft increased by 13% compared to the same month of the previous year. In the year to date, pollution has increased by 14% compared to 2022, but not only is the overall figure disappointing, the pollution per departure has also increased by 5% year on year.
In November alone, a single month, almost 15 million tonnes of CO2 were emitted by aircraft, the equivalent of the entire years’ worth of pollution by every outdoor light being illuminated in the USA.
With Spain being one of the countries hardest hit by climate change this year, with record compensation being paid to farmers, for example, and most of the country suffering drought, it is perhaps time to take the matter more seriously or there may not be a country left to visit in the future by these tourists.
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