Malaga hotels achieve a new record in 2024 despite losing nearly 200,000 Spanish tourists

Hotels in the province of Málaga have finally managed to set a new historical record for travelers and overnight stays in 2024, although the sustained decline in Spanish tourists has meant that the progress compared to the previous year has been minimal. Only the push from the foreign market has allowed the Costa del Sol to set a new benchmark. The year ended with a total of 6.29 million guest arrivals and just over 22 million stays. The final development of the year thus shows meager annual increases in the tourist segment (the increase was only 0.4%) and somewhat more significant in the overnight stays segment (a 3% increase), according to the Hotel Tourism Situation data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The figures have also confirmed that, on an annual basis, the tourist market in Málaga has shown lower numbers in 2024 compared to 2023 since last summer. December, in particular, had lower figures than the same month in 2023 (there were 292,539 travelers and 891,947 stays, with decreases of 105 and 7%, respectively), continuing the trend of declines recorded in the months of August, September, October, and November.

Hotel overnight stays in Spain set a new historical high in 2024 after increasing by 4.9%

Foreign increase mitigates national decline

By origin of tourists, hotels in Málaga have once again had the foreign visitor as the main bulwark in 2024, with just over 4 million visitors and 16.65 million overnight stays, according to the INE. Thus, the numbers of foreign tourists continue to grow in Málaga, exceeding last year's figures by 5.3% and 6.6%, respectively.

On the other hand, the volume of Spanish customers continues to decline. The figures for 2024 were 2.25 million visitors and 5.18 million hotel nights, with a drop compared to 2023 of 7.1% in the number of tourists and 6.6% in overnight stays.

In absolute terms, hotels in Málaga lost a total of 199,260 national customers compared to 2023, while the foreign channel increased by 204,545 people. Also, in the chapter of stays, the balance of the hotel sector shows a drop of 382,767 nights from Spanish tourists and an increase of 1.03 million overnight stays from foreign visitors.

A tourist in Málaga. / L. O.

Hoteliers, satisfied

The Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs of the Costa del Sol (Aehcos) made a year-end review this Friday. The hotel occupancy throughout 2024 was 79.83%, 6.24 points more than in 2023, when it was 73.59%

The president of the hotel association, José Luque, has positively assessed the figures, while referring to the challenges that the sector will have to face during 2025, which mainly have to do, in his opinion, "with planning and working to ensure that the province of Málaga continues to be a destination with excellent quality of life, which can be appreciated, not only by the residents here, but also by the tourists who visit us."

As for the Gross Average Impact per Accommodated Guest (IBCA) it was 110.31 euros throughout 2024, compared to 158.96 euros at the end of 2023. In December, the IBCA was at 94.26 euros, compared to 136.51 euros in the same month of 2023

"The increase in occupancy compared to 2023 surely has a lot to do with the renovation of hotel establishments that has been carried out. Practically, 80% of the hotels on the Costa del Sol have been refurbished and modernized in the last 15 years. On the other hand, the specialization in micro-destinations, as well as the careful attention to clients with specific and demanding requirements, may also have helped this increase in occupancy," added the executive vice president of Aehcos, Javier Hernández.

Regarding the occupancy recorded in December, according to the hotel association, it was 56.63% across the province, with Frigiliana-Torrox (67.77%), Fuengirola (66.12%), Benalmádena (53.67%) and Mijas (53.07%) being the municipalities with the best data.

Looking ahead to the start of 2025, the hotel association expects to achieve occupancies of 54.37% and 56.49%, respectively, in January and February, although, they note, "several factors such as last-minute bookings or the weather situation, which is usually key during the winter months, will have to be taken into account."

The Costa del Sol seeks to reactivate the national quota

One of the main objectives for the Costa del Sol this year is the recovery of its share in the national market, as explained these days at the Fitur fair in Madrid by the president of the Provincial Council and of Turismo Costa del Sol, Francisco Salado. For now, the year starts with optimistic forecasts, as the number of flight seats for national tourism has increased for the first four months of this year.

Thus, the seats that airlines have for traveling to Málaga from Spanish airports will reach 731,000 in these first four months, an increase of 6.9% compared to the same period in 2024. The main cities will be Barcelona, with an increase of 25.3%; Madrid, with 21.3% Palma de Mallorca, where they grow by 8.7% and Melilla, with an increase of 7.7%.

The president of the Provincial Council of Málaga, Francisco Salado, presents the new Turismo Costa del Sol campaign at Fitur / Álex Zea

Salado has explained that the Costa del Sol will make a greater effort this year to recover its share in the national market, to attract potential visitors and a young audience.

Occupancy and employment figures

The occupancy of hotels in Málaga in December was 43.1% by places and 52% by rooms, levels somewhat below the same month in 2023 (45% and 53.3%, respectively).

The figures from the INE also indicate that there were 486 hotels open in December, below the level of 2023 (529) but well ahead of the figure from 2019 (448), reflecting growth in the sector in recent years. The number of available places estimated was just over 66,000 (compared to 68,149 the previous year and 59,649 in 2019).

The hotels in the province employed 10,462 workers in the last month of 2024, a volume somewhat higher than in 2023 (11,157). In 2019, before the pandemic, the employment level was lower (9,305). The peak of employment in hotels usually occurs each year in the months of July and August, as corresponds to the logic of the high season, where the volume of workers is around 20,000 people.