58 million tourists went to Spain in 2012, but as many come from within Europe, the country worries that economic woes could slow increases in numbers and profitability. So after being lukewarm on health tourism and sometimes aggressively against medical tourism, Spain now sees health tourism as a potential money-spinner that could rescue some troubled holiday areas.
58 million tourists went to Spain in 2012, but as many come from within Europe, the country worries that economic woes could slow increases in numbers and profitability. So after being lukewarm on health tourism and sometimes aggressively against medical tourism, Spain now sees health tourism as a potential money-spinner that could rescue some troubled holiday areas.
Health tourism has become more important in Spain in recent years, attracting more than 20,000 international tourists in 2012, according to Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Borrego. At a recent tourism conference, Borrego noted that increasing numbers of domestic and international tourists are visiting Spanish spas or taking part in health-related travel.
In 2012 21,868 international visitors went to Spain to for various health treatments, spending in total EUR 12.1 million, according to data provided by Turespana.
The government’s tourism department sees health tourism as strategically important as the average spend of a medical tourist is significantly more than that of a conventional tourist and the time spent in the country is generally longer.
Turespana claims that 9 million Europeans are health tourists each year and by 2020 this could double. What has to be watched here is the rather loose interpretation that mixes spa and health and medical tourism all within the same definition. Both Turespana and Spanish politicians use health and medical tourism as interchangeable terms.
One attraction to Spain of health and medical tourism is that while much conventional tourism is seasonal, these are much less so, although health tourism tends to be more seasonal than medical tourism. Borrego sees both as, “An important unseasonal factor that is a golden opportunity for tourism, that will also improve the quality and diversify Spanish thermal spa offerings. Health tourism is the niche of the future with great capacity for growth will benefit from Europe’s increasingly older population with greater life expectancy. The two key markets for Spain are Germany and Britain.”
Spain’s tourism industry sees innovation, technology, product differentiation and public-private collaboration as key elements to attract between 75 and 80 million tourists in 2015. These are some of the points raised in the report ‘Hot Topics of Tourism in 2013’ presented in Madrid and prepared by PwC Consulting based on the opinion of the representatives of the sector in Spain.
Alvaro Klecker of PwC commented, “Although in recent years there has been growth in this sector, it is insufficient and there have been declines in the profitability of all business areas. Although the number of foreign visitors continues to increase, with 58 million international tourists in 2012, domestic tourism suffers greatly. Spain must offer improved services and make better use of technology if wants increased tourism numbers. There must be better communication of the offer to tourists, and a need to understand what people want. It must link tourism to the entertainment industry and promote non-seasonal tourism with a target of 20% additional income outside the high season. Profit margins have reduced, and there is a need for changes in the Spanish tourist business model by focusing on attracting more visitors, improving efficiency and restructuring travel agencies.”
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