Latest crisis cost Spanish tourism 252 million euros

The Spanish tourism industry has lost 252 million euros (337 million dollars) for the crisis caused by the emission of volcanic ash from Iceland, not including the airlines, which are primarily affected, reported the Partnership for tourism excellence Exceltur.

The sector lost each day 42 million euros (56 million) due to the blockade of airspace caused by volcanic plume, which “upset down” the results of tourism enterprises in the second quarter of 2010, said Jose Luis Zoreda, vice president of that body.

Exceltur expected, after the beginning of 2010 had shown signs of slight improvement in the number of tourists, a new decrease in the tourist part of GDP in Spain by 0.9% this year.

Once flights are normalized and have been evaluated in detail the losses, the industry asked for a plan specific support measures, priority and proportion to which the EU could approve for airlines.

According Zoreda when opened some “light flashing, the horizon has grown to overshadow the cloud” volcanic and employers who expected an improvement in the second quarter, among other factors, for an advance of travel purchases for the Spanish the summer to avoid the planned increase in VAT, volcanic ash have been a blow to the sector.

The first quarter of 2010 was somewhat better than the same period a year ago thanks to an influx of Spanish tourists, as foreign demand has not yet recovered.

Exceltur seen a better performance of foreign demand to urban destinations, while leisure travelers have returned to start the year with records below its competitors in the supply of sun and sand, such as Turkey and Morocco, with increases of over 6% compared a fall of 1.6% in Spain.

The UK market continues to hinder the recovery of foreign demand, although the Nordic countries, Russia, USA, Italy, France and to a lesser extent Germany, are positive changes.