MADRID IT looks as though tourism in Spain is starting to recover, said Matilde Torres, vice-president of the National Travel Agency Federation yesterday, adding that the Balearics is one of three regions of the country which has best ridden out the storm.
Speaking on television, Torres said that the tourist industry had been badly affected by the decline in numbers of British visitors and the weak Pound against the Euro. On the other hand, she said, clients from France and Italy have not stopped coming to Spain in such large numbers. Torres claimed that this opened a new door to tourism in the Balearics through promotion of a single week break from countries which are geographically close. The Spanish meanwhile maintain their own favourite destinations of the United States and Cuba. Mexico and Argentina, however, are not so popular this year because of the spread of swine flu in those countries. Torres said that great uncertainty surrounds the travel industry this month of September. People, she explained, still have holiday left to them, and now is a good time to take advantage of end of season offers, on both a national and international scale.