SPANISH TOURIST OFFICE NEWS UPDATE – NOVEMBER 2012 TOURISM STATISTICS Spain welcomes increase in UK visitors From January until the end of September 2012, Spain welcomed in excess of 11 million UK tourist arrivals, a 1.1% year on year increase which highlights that Spain is still considered to be one of the most important destinations for Brits. The UK continues to be Spain’s most important tourism market, capturing almost a quarter of all international arrivals from January to September at 23.9%. In September alone, more than 1, 6 million tourists travelled to Spain from the UK, representing a 0.6% yearly increase. Mirroring the cumulative results, UK tourist arrivals in September 2012 represented just over a quarter of all arrivals at 26.3%, followed by Germany (18.7%) and France (13.2%). The international tourist expenditure in September 2012 also registered an increase of 13.4% year on year accounting for over six million euros, in line with the tourist board objectives. UK visitors were the chief contributors to this tourist spend at 23.2% followed by Germany at 19% and France at 8%. The UK alone spent 1.4 million Euros in September 2012, which mainly benefited the Balearic Islands and Cataluña. HOTEL UPDATE New Meliá hotel in Mallorca New Meliá property ‘El Beach House’ opened this summer replacing the former Mallorca Beach in the popular tourist spot of Magaluf. The new hotel marks the first phase of the ambitious Calviá Beach Resort project, a luxury complex which is aimed at generating the gradual renovation and repositioning of Magaluf. http://www.melia.com/hotels/spain/majorca/beach-house/index.html Pacha to open new hotel in Ibiza The Pacha group has announced the development of a new hotel complex in Ibiza. The new complex called ‘Destino’ will be located in Cap Martinet in the south of the island, close to Talamanca beach and Ibiza Town. The hotel will boast a surface area of 50.000m² and aims to convey the ‘Pacha lifestyle’ with 170 bedrooms, a huge swimming pool surrounded by palm trees and hammocks, a Jacuzzi and live entertainment for guests. http://www.pacha.com/content/about-us Axel Hotels to open new Gran Canaria property Gay focused hotel chain Axel Hotels has announced the opening of a new Maspalomas Beach propery in Gran Canaria, scheduled to open in May 2013. The new ‘Beach Maspalomas - Apartments & Lounge Club’ will be located within easy walking distance to the beach and will boast a vast outdoor pool, gym, sauna and a range of massage services. The apartments will have a large living-area, American style kitchen, fully-furnished bedroom, sofa bed, plasma TV and outdoor terrace. The property that has been developed with the gay market in mind, will also offer a range of entertainment, free Wi-Fi in all common areas and a bike renting service. http://www.axelhotels.com/portal/sub/13/96/en/new-hotel-axel-gran-canaria Palladium Hotel Group (formally Fiesta Hotel Group) to open two new hotels for 2012 Urban brand Ayre Hoteles is soon to open a new boutique property in Madrid, located in the heart of Madrid’s city centre on Calle Barquillo. The new townhouse hotel will feature 70 bedrooms and will be located in a majestic 19th century Spanish palace, previously owned by the Marchioness Viuda de Aldama. The property that is scheduled to open in the first trimester of 2013 will feature a lounge bar, a breakfast area in one of the courtyards and a meeting room. http://www.ayrehoteles.com/es/home/ Summer 2013 will also see the expansion of the popular Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel with The Ushuaïa Tower; a spectacular eight floor property, that will replace the existing Fiesta Playa d’en Bossa hotel, scheduled to open in June 2013. The development forms part of a project to extend the existing Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, which will be re-branded to ‘The Ushuaia Club’ encompassing two hotels. http://www.ushuaiaibiza.com/en/ Villa Padierna in Marbella gets its sixth star Villa Padierna has been awarded a sixth star by international association ‘Seven Stars & Stripes’, an accolade that is awarded for first-rate customer service and culinary excellence. http://www.hotelvillapadierna.com/Blog/en/ Hesperia Lanzarote launches children’s rooms Hesperia Lanzarote has opened a number of rooms especially designed for children, complete with games, themed bunk beds, cuddly toys, consoles, special menus, colourful bathrobes, bathroom products for children and club cards for the ClubHesperio. The rooms also come complete with their own children’s mini-bar filled with juices, smoothies, biscuits and cereal bars, TVs with a range of cartoon channels and DVD players. http://www.hesperia.com/hesperia/en/hotels/spain/lanzarote/hesperia-lanzarote.html Room Mate opens its second Barcelona hotel Room Mate Hotels has opened its second Barcelona property, located on Calle Fontanella, moments from Plaza Catalunya. The new 66-bedroom property called Room Mate Pau opened in July and offers a city centre location, twinned with all the necessary facilities to enjoy a relaxing and comfortable stay. http://pau.room-matehotels.com/index.php/en Princesa Munia Hotel & Spa opens in Oviedo Fruela Hotels has opened the Princesa Munia Hotel & Spa, a €3 million project located in a 19th century building in the Spanish city of Oviedo. The four star superior hotel offers 23 bedrooms, designed by Gijón based design company Mamen de la Concha, offering a unique design concept based around the Asturian monarchy, paying homage to the city’s great history. http://www.hotelprincesamunia.com/ Hotel Posada Real Fuerte de la Concepción opens in Salamanca A new four star property has opened in the Salamanca province in one of the three buildings that comprises the former 17th Century fort known as ‘Fuerte de la Concepcion’, located on the outskirts of Aldea del Obispo. The castle was originally constructed in 1664 to protect the Spanish border from Portugal and was reconstructed in 1735. The four star property opened in September with 18 junior suites (each 54m²) and when completed, will offer a total of 58 bedrooms, together with spectacular garden and courtyard rooms. http://www.fuertedelaconcepcion.com/ Radisson Blu opens second Spanish hotel Radisson Blu has opened its second Spanish property with the new Radisson Blu Resort Gran Canaria which boasts 189 bedrooms and suites as well as a six meeting rooms and a conference room; ideal for those looking to plan their meetings and events in the sun drenched Canary Islands. http://www.radissonblu.com/resort-grancanaria New Madrid Hotel opens on Calle Valencia Madrid welcomes a new boutique, family run hotel with the opening of Hotel Artrip, located in a former residential building in Madrid’s Lavapiés district. The hotel, which opened in summer 2012, also serves as a gallery displaying current works from Carlos Cau and has seventeen bedrooms, including five suites, distributed across six floors. http://www.artriphotel.com/en/ Renaissance Hotels opens new gem in the heart of Barcelona Marriot International has opened the new Renaissance Barcelona Hotel, located just moments away from Paseo de Gracia, Bracelona’s premier shopping and architectural district. The hotel, formerly known as ‘The Diplomatic Hotel’ reopened in May this year after a full renovation. The hotel is centrally located near many popular tourist attractions including the famed Hotel Gaudi, where guests can admire the fascinating architecture of Palau Guell. http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/bcndm-renaissance-barcelona-hotel/ The Méridien Barcelona undergoes transformation The suites and the spa on the sixth and seventh floors of the Méridien Barcelona have undergone a complete reformation, offering a new contemporary style. The spacious suites (70m²) offer fabulous views whilst the Mediterranean suites come complete with 50m² outdoor terraces. The new spa, located on the sixth floor has two treatment rooms, a manicure and pedicure area, hairdressers, sauna, steam room, solarium and many outdoor water areas. http://www.lemeridienbarcelona.es/ TRANSPORT LINKS British Airways responds to high demand and expands its winter routes to Spain British Airways has announced plans to increase the frequency of its winter flights to Spain and launch new routes, in response to a high demand for winter flights to Spanish regions. On 23 February 2013, British Airways will launch a new route between London Gatwick and Barcelona with three flights a day. The airline will also increase its flights between Gatwick and Malaga by 30% by offering ten flights per week. A new flight connection has also been launched from London Heathrow to Alicante, with three flights scheduled per week. London Gatwick will also see a new route to Alicante with 17 flights per week starting from 31 March 2013, increasing to 21 flights per week for July, August and September. British Airways will also extend its seasonal flights to the Balearic Islands, which usually run until the end of October, with flights between London City and Palma and Ibiza throughout the winter. www.britishairways.com Jet2 increases flights between Scotland and Spain with new routes Low cost airline, Jet2.com is responding to the high demand for flights from Scotland to Spain by launching new routes between Glasgow and three Spanish destinations; Gran Canaria, Menorca and Murcia. The Gran Canaria and Menorca routes will launch on 25 May 2013, both with one flight a week and the inaugural Murcia route will take off on 24 May 2013 with two flights a week. Jet2 will also increase the frequency of its summer flights from the Scottish airport to Spain on five routes throughout 2013. The route between Glasgow and Palma will increase from six to eight flights a week, raising the number of available seats by 20%.