MADRID: In the first half of 2023, the number of Chinese visitors visiting Spain climbed by 420 percent, according to data released by the Spanish tourism organization Turespana.
Compared to just 26,085 between January and June of 2021, 135,715 Chinese arrived in Spain during the first half of this year. Hector Gomez, Spain’s acting minister of industry, trade, and tourism, praised the report and said seeing Chinese tourists returning after the pandemic was great. Gomez continued by saying there would be more flights between Spain and China in the second part of the year.
Gomez said, “In 2023, with the incorporation (of new flights) this summer, we will recover 80 percent of the connections we had before the pandemic. With all certainty, 2024 will be the year that sees the full consolidation of this market, which is so important for our country.” Before the COVID-19 epidemic, 700,750 Chinese visitors visited Spain in 2019, according to statistics from the Spanish Statistical Office (INE). —Xinhua/APP
