Costa del Sol
Poor winter tourism numbers on the Costa del Sol
By h.b.
Feb 13, 2008 - 8:18 AM

The Costa del Sol has suffered its worst winter for tourism since 2003, according to AECHOS the area’s Association of Hoteliers.
President Salvador Vilches said yesterday that ‘for years we have not seen such worrying numbers’.

The months which have been bad were November and December, with the former seeing a 7% drop on hotel occupancy compared to to 2006 and December seeing a six per cent fall.
Over the complete year of 2007, occupancy was 2.5% lower than in 2006 on the coast, equivalent to 313,000 overnight stays less.

Vilches told the La Opinión de Málaga newspaper that January also proved difficult this year, but that February appeared to be better. ‘Being pessimistic does us no good’, he said, adding that it was difficult to make any predictions as reservations were ‘ever more last-minute’.

The Tourism Secretary of the CCOO union in Málaga, Gonzalo Fuentes, said that the companies had not known how to sell the winter, but that he was hopeful that the AVE high speed train would help in the numbers.