We want to promote unexplored parts of Spain in India

Elena Orland

How was 2024 and the performance of Spain in the Indian market?

Spain continues to be one of the preferred European travel destinations for the Indian market, also for most of the international travellers. Spain is one of the world’s most visited countries and in 2024, we have gone to more than 95 million people, generating more than EUR 118 billion in international tourism expenditure. Apart from retaining the record highest Indian arrivals in 2023, as per the available data, we have registered more than 226,000 arrivals in 2024. So compared to 2023, we are very much on track with respect to the number of arrivals that year. Beyond the number of tourists, I consider it extremely important or relevant due to the per person tourism spending which is about EUR 2,623 from India, which happens to be much higher than the overall average tourism expenses per person in Spain. The total tourism spend by Indian visitors in Spain in 2024 was almost EUR 572 million and has greatly surpassed the pre-pandemic high of approximately EUR 492 million.

This underlines the fact of how much Indian travellers recognise Spain for the value of offers. I am also very optimistic about keeping this trend in the future. The declaration of 2026 as a dual India-Spain Year will strengthen bilateral relations in tourism, culture and artificial intelligence, which are the chosen fields to increase collaboration between both the countries.

What are the Indians looking for when they come to Spain?

Some of the traditional popular tourism products that we have seen among Indians are arts and culture, gastronomy, luxury and shopping and MICE events,  among others. However, in the last few years, some other products are also garnering good interest from travellers such as active tourism, exploring nature, adventure sport and festivals, especially among the Millennials and Generation Z. They want to go off track to explore nature or design their own itineraries around local events.

What is the most popular destination in Spain for Indian visitors?

Spain is keen to promote destinations like León which are rich in cultural heritage (Photo: India Outbound)

Madrid, Barcelona, Andalusia, Canary Islands and Balearic, also Valencia, but  I feel that the Indian travellers demand variety while travelling abroad and appreciate personal experiences as they allow them to connect with other communities and discover new cultures and landscapes. This is a trend we are seeing in the last few years and in this regard, Spain has so much to offer. For example, Spain is the fifth country in the world with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Spain also tops European Union in number of biosphere reserves and blue flags beaches. Over 40 pc of our territory is protected to harmonise the economic development with social and environmental issues. Spain has the second longest high-speed rail network in the world and half of our energy is generated from renewable sources so we do strive to reduce carbon emissions and to promote sustainable tourism.

Spain has allocated EUR 2 billion to sustainability initiatives in the tourism sectors and Spanish companies are also committed towards sustainability. Now, it is not only a question of public policy, but also the private sector is committed to this initiative. So, I think we are going to be very well prepared to receive those international travellers, among them Indians, who are looking for more sustainable destinations.

Which regions or sectors in Spain remain underexposed in the Indian market, and how can they be better promoted?

This year we are going to promote the interior of Spain, like Extremadura, Castilla e Léon and Aragón, which has a lot to offer. We are planning to do both familiarisation trips and press trips to these regions. We also plan to run campaigns in social media and also webinars in India in order to show all the different destinations and experiences that can be enjoyed in these destinations.

What is the breakup of tourists between business and leisure travellers?

We work on both fields, leisure is very important for Spain. As I said, tourists coming from India are urban tourists mostly, they like shopping and gastronomy experiences. We also work with MICE sector in Barcelona, Madrid and also some cities in Andalusia like Seville and Malaga hold this kind of events and I am sure that if we finally get back a direct flight from India to Spain, it will lead to growth in this sector.

Spain has a very rich heritage. Is that a significant attraction for Indians? If so, how do you plan to leverage it?

Yes, for sure, in fact, although the Indian travellers visit Madrid, Barcelona, Andalusia for shopping, they are also very attracted to the cultural heritage. In fact, we are going to foster that possibility because around Madrid, around Barcelona and all across Andalusia, there are so many places to visit. In fact, for example, when Indians go to Andalusia, they love the Alhambra in Granada or the Cathedral in Seville and the Mosque in Cordoba. Those are unique places in the world to visit, and they are very valuable for Indian travellers.

Segovia is another offbeat destination full of architectural marvels like this Roman Aquaduct (Photo: India Outbound)

We have a whole network of historic cities that are protected under UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention. We are going to foster that also because we are sure that beyond enjoying this cultural heritage, they also have many options to enjoy the gastronomy or natural landscapes. We also have these network of paradores or old castles that are managed by the public administrations which are very luxurious. I am sure there are a few of them which can be really interesting for an Indian traveller who is interested in a very exclusive experience in a marvellous venue surrounded by a beautiful landscape, so that they can disconnect from the life in the city and enjoy a unique experience.

What is your target for the Indian market this year?

Yes, the premium segment is always our target. But, now the middle classes are developing very fast and we have to pay attention to the performance, if they prefer to travel domestically, I mean internally in India, or they want to travel near by in the countries around. We have to pay attention to those who want to jump and travel to Europe.

We are optimistic about young people, about people who are interested in something different from others, like nature, active tourism or Agritourism there are so many things to do. Everyone says that Spain is really a place where you can find in a big space many different possibilities like mountain, beach, sports and urban country. We will do a big effort to try to focus on those travellers that want to go to Spain to do something different.

Based on last year’s figure what is your target for this year?

We will work to keep the growing trend in number of Indian arrivals, as well as increase the average stay and expenditure. However, I would like to highlight that we do not look at tourism just as an economic motor, but also as something that contributes to the social well-being of the locals as well as the travellers.

Which aspect are you focusing on easing visa requirements, reducing documentation, or speeding up travel processing?

Speeding up the visa processing time is something  that it is always looked into. An efficient management of the visa processing has a very positive impact on the economic, commercial, and cultural relationships among countries, particularly in the tourism sector. So the Spanish Administration is doing everything necessary to process visa applications more efficiently.

With the possibility of direct connectivity between India and Spain, how do you see the growth?

We are very optimistic about this. In fact, we think that we have the chances to recover the flight that used to be in the past before the pandemic, to start it again. we cannot be certain about the date but we are optimistic about this flight could be restored or recovered between India and Spain.

How will a direct flight impact tourism growth?

The flight’s direct connectivity will improve and foster tourism between both countries, not only from India to Spain, but also from Spain to India. For sure, it would be great news.