Record number of tourists in 2007

Spain is still a massive draw for holidaymakers, with statistics showing higher tourism levels than ever.
Spain’s tourist board are celebrating a successful year after figures have revealed record numbers of foreigners visiting the country’s holiday hotspots last year.
During 2007, 59.2 million overseas visitors descended on cities and coastal resorts, 1.7 per cent more than 2006, with the Industrial, Tourism and Trade Ministry reporting that Andalusia was among the most popular destinations, especially areas along the Costa de Sol.
The main market is still the UK, with Britain accounting for 27.5 per cent of all foreign visitors, though Spain is also becoming increasingly popular with North American visitors, with the number of arrivals from the United States rising from 22 per cent to 1.1 million.
Britain’s passion for Spain’s holiday and property market is partly due the abundance of low cost airlines linking the two countries, making trips to Spain easy and affordable. Low cost airlines are credited with carrying 24 million passengers to Spain over the past year, an increase of 34 per cent from 2006. Ryanair are the overall leaders with 5.4 million passengers, followed by Easyjet with 4.2 million.