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Spain likely to replace the US as the second most visited country in the world
Spain is expected to replace the US as the world's second most popular tourist destination after France, according to data from the Madrid-based UN World Tourism Organization.
Head of the UN World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili said on Monday that Spain enjoyed 82m visitors last year and is expected to take the second spot, although definitive figures will only be published in the spring.
The country broke its own records for a fifth straight year in 2017, with a 8.9% rise year-on-year in the number of visitors.
Tourist spending in Spain also set a new record in 2017, climbing 12.4% from the year before, with the 18m Britons who visited Spanish shores the biggest contingent by nationality.
Tourism in Spain has also benefited from the boom in renting flats to tourists through platforms like Airbnb, although this has sparked protests from some locals, who complain of a fall in the number of long-term rentals and higher rent prices.
The boom in the sector was also stoking interest in M&A in the space. On Wednesday, NH Hotels rejected a takeover offer from rival Barcelo, a transaction that would have created the largest hotel chain in the country.
Polikashvili did not provide any details regarding the US, nor did he explain how Spain had managed to take second place despite the Barcelona terror attacks or the Catalan drive for independence, both of which might have been expected to adversely impact one of the country's most visited regions.
Nonetheless, France was still odds-on to retain the top spot in 2017, contributing the most to an annualised 8% gain in the number of visitors to Europe.
In 2016, Spain hosted 75.3m tourists, close on the heels of the 75.6m welcomed by the US, although France remained world leader by a wide margin, with 82.6m visitors.
The US suffered a hit in its international tourism during the first five months of Donald Trump's presidency, according to the US International Trade Administration, with tourism falling 5% in the first quarter and 3% in the second.