The Costa del Sol closes 2025 with a higher increase in revenue than in tourists

With a marked advocacy character, the presentation of the tourism balance of the province in 2025 has taken place, showing that tourism revenue is growing more than the arrival of travelers. In the case of global accommodation, with the exception of tourist homes for which there are no activity statistics, it has not been possible to achieve the 2024 results in terms of travelers, stays, and average occupancy.

Related News

These are the tourism figures for the Costa del Sol in 2025

Francisco Salado, the president of Tourism Costa del Sol, began his statement by urging the government to take urgent measures to avoid traffic jams in the eastern area of the A-7, after a morning marked by a new bottleneck. "The Three Wise Men have gifted me a caravan. Today, once again, we suffered long queues on the highway connecting Rincón de la Victoria with Málaga. It is urgent to act," Salado warned. He maintained a tone of advocacy, repeatedly mentioning the need for the government to intervene to prevent the queues occurring at Málaga airport due to new passenger control requirements from outside the Schengen area. "The United Kingdom is our main international client. In 2025, it experienced a 7.5% increase. It is important to take measures because the queues at Málaga airport at specific times give a very bad image. We ask the airport to press so that the Ministry of Interior, which has the competencies in this matter, increases the staff at these controls to regulate the flows." This was only the first of several calls made concerning an issue that worries the sector, given that almost 30% of international travelers come from the United Kingdom.

Salado also stood firm against the negative results shown by the activity statistics of hotels, apartments, rural houses, and camping sites, which he says have registered a 1.1% drop in the arrival of travelers, totaling 7.9 million, and a 1.4% decrease in the overnight stays they generated, which amounted to 30 million. They also failed to improve the average occupancy, which stands at 75.4%, a 1.8% decrease from 2024.

The president of Tourism Costa del Sol has downplayed this evolution and highlighted the increase in the profitability of these accommodations, the growth of tourists with higher spending capacity, and the continued confidence that investors have in the market, which shows that Costa del Sol remains "the main tourist destination in Andalusia and one of the most important in the country." He also downplayed the decline in occupancy, which he justified by the constant increase in accommodation supply, with 701,924 places, including tourist homes, representing a 6.5% increase. Salado explained that tourists are also choosing other accommodations such as tourist homes, adding that many of them have bought homes in the destination and have ceased to be visitors to become residents. "There is no need to fear that the occupancy is not at the same levels as last year. I think what is happening is good and there is no need to fear that hotels have dropped in occupancy. The fact is that investors continue to trust the destination and in that customer willing to pay more. The market is not saturated on the Costa del Sol. There is still room to grow. Our challenge is to focus on quality rather than the quantity of tourists. That is what we are working on and the results of 2025 confirm this strategy."

21,811

are the millions of euros that tourism has generated in the province, a 2.8% increase from 2024.

Furthermore, he insisted that the overall data confirm that 2025 has been a record year in tourism with the arrival of 14.6 million tourists to the province, a 1.19% increase, and with 21,811 million in revenue, a 2.8% increase. "The data show a more sustained growth in travelers and greater dynamism in the economic impact of this activity," he stated to highlight the strong 10% increase in job creation, totaling 152,162 workers in the province's main industry. "Tourism continues to bring us much joy," he detailed, advancing that 2026 starts with good prospects given the growth in seats offered by airlines to fly in these first four months of the year. Specifically, the companies have put 4.4 million seats on the market to fly from Málaga in the first four months of the year, which represents a 6.2% increase from 2025. However, he warned of the need to be cautious in the face of international instability. Yet, he assured that they expect to advance in improving connectivity with Asia and the United States in 2026. "We are looking forward to that flight from Shanghai, to reaching agreements to have connections with Atlanta or Miami, which we hope to have news about, and to extending the Málaga to New York air route all year round."

Salado reiterated the message that "we are working in the right direction of prioritizing quality over quantity. We have an unbeatable offer. Costa del Sol is a very safe destination, an important value in the face of global uncertainty. That's why we remain optimistic. 2026 is a hopeful year."

Session limit reached

Access to Premium content is open courtesy of the establishment where you are, but currently, there are too many users connected at the same time.

Please try again in a few minutes.

Session closed

When logging in from a different device, for security, the last session on this one was closed.

To continue enjoying your digital subscription, log in on this device.

Do you have a subscription? Log in