Did you know that…. besides sun, siestas, monuments, or running before the bulls in Pamplona, Spain offers great potential for your bottom line.
Spain is the United States’ fifth largest European travel market and its 13th largest international market.
The 516, 471 Spanish arrivals in 2007 represented a 21.7 percent increase over the previous year, one of the highest percentage increases in Europe. Did your company get its share of this expanding market?
Large cities continue to lure Spaniards. New York and Florida are the main ports of entry for Spaniards as there are no direct flights to the west coast. Travel to New York has returned to pre-September 11 levels. Spain is New York’s ninth most important market.
Four major U.S. carriers (American, Continental, Delta and US Airways) and one Spanish carrier (Iberia) operate direct/non-stop flights from Madrid to major U.S. cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Newark, New York, Philadelphia and San Juan). Iberia inaugurated new direct routes to Boston and Washington, D.C., in May 2007. In addition, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, U.S. Airways and Continental have flights from Barcelona to New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Newark. Delta also operates a direct flight from Málaga to New York.
On-bound travel to the West Coast is the third favorite destination, including fly + drive to Nevada and Arizona. San Francisco and Los Angeles top the list in this area. Interest in rugged western outdoor tourism has grown noticeably. Growing interest in Native American culture and traditions has also been detected. Similar increases have been observed with ski-season travel. Other destinations with good market potential are Hawaii, Route 66, Alaska, New Orleans, as well as theme parks, and the U.S. Caribbean, among others. If you serve these destinations, are you taking advantage of the opportunities to attract Spanish travelers?
The Opportunities …
Apart from the services listed at http://www.buyusa.gov/spain/en/partners.html, why not consider participating at one of the following trade shows:
- The premier travel show in Spain is FITUR. With over 100,000 professional visitors, FITUR is Spain’s largest travel and tourism fair and the third largest of its kind in Europe. Given the potential of the Spanish market for U.S. destinations, tour operators are very interested in identifying new itineraries and promoting travel to the U.S
- FITUR is an excellent opportunity for U.S. destinations and service providers to offset the heavy promotion investment of their competitors, negotiate agreements with in-country tour operators and be pro-active in providing promotional materials, information and assistance to prospective Spanish travelers and travel agencies.
- The fair will take place in Madrid from January 28 – February 1, 2009.
- Given the importance of the fair, the U.S. Commercial Service Spain actively supports the two Department of Commerce certified U.S. Pavilions at FITUR. This year, in addition to the traditional U.S. pavilion, there will be a new Discover America Pavilion.
More information on these pavilions is available at:
http://www.ifema.es/ferias/fitur/default_i.html,
http://www.conexgroup.com/usapavilion/participation.html
http://www.discoveramericapavilion.com/fitur2009.html
- Visit USA Committee, Ski Fair in Valencia, November 2008.
- Visit USA Committee Workshop in Madrid, January 26, 2009
Interested? For more information…
On the market or participating at FITUR, feel free to contact:
Helen Crowley, Intl. Trade Specialist, CS Madrid – U.S. Embassy Madrid, Helen.crowley@mail.doc.gov