It’s no secret Spain (WTM London stand N6-210) has been contending with media coverage of anti-tourism protests this year, and while this has not affected visitor numbers to the country, it has in part informed the destination’s new sustainability-focused tourism strategy, supported by Abta.
Its tagline, “Taking care of the future”, is designed to promote the message of “stay longer, discover more”.
Against a backdrop of increasing UK arrivals – between January and August 2025, Spain welcomed 13.2 million British visitors, marking a 4.33% increase compared to the same period last year – the country is “not chasing volume, but diversification”.
The key tenets of the strategy (some of which have already laid out in the destination’s ongoing “Think you know Spain? Think again” campaign) are:
- Focusing on geographic, seasonal, and demographic diversification to ensure Spain remains resilient, inclusive, and beneficial to both visitors and residents alike”.
- Promoting responsible, sustainable travel, emphasising its partnership with BCorp tour operators and hotel companies, as well as promoting its rail network and and slower and deeper exploration of Spain.
- Encouraging longer stays and more involved exploration, by promoting initiatives to extend overnight stays and showcasing lesser-known areas of Spain.
Materials from the new campaign will be showcased on Spain’s stand at WTM London.
Asked about the impact of recent anti-tourism protests in Spain, director of tourism at the Spanish Tourist Office Manuel Butler said: “We're monitoring this news and they [protests] are growing year-by-year. We have to recognise that.
“At the moment there is no impact on bookings – the figures are fantastic.
“But we are monitoring it destination by destination in a deeper way, and we are also monitoring the reputation of Spain through social media, using some complex tools.
“Until today, there is no impact at all about the image of Spain.”
Butler added though that [internal discontent with tourism numbers] was “the biggest challenge that we are facing – not only in Spain, but the whole tourism industry”.
“That's why we have launched this agreement with Abta,” Butler continued. “We hope we can find solutions, and have a holistic approach to tourism to destinations, taking into consideration all of the stakeholders – the locals, the tour operators, the holiday makers, the destinations, the airlines and so on.”
On the stand
Meanwhile, a wider, governmental ‘Spain Tourism Agenda 2030’, will be presented by the Secretary of State for Tourism on the second day of WTM – November 5 – at 10:30am at Spain’s stand, making reference to the climate emergency.
Following this, the Spanish Tourist Office will present its ‘Stay Longer, Discover More’ campaign, encouraging visitors to embrace slow travel and explore Spain’s lesser-known regions.
There will also be a presentation (with Q&A) by Tui’s commercial director, Phillip Iveson. “Tui is doing a great job in terms of promoting longer stay in the destination,” said Butler.
Other themes
Other themes Spain will be available to discuss at WTM London, include the growth of its shoulder season and new routes and regional growth areas.
Butler described an “extension of the high season” as “highly relevant.
The latest figures indicate a rise in arrivals during the early months of the year compared with 2019, while June and July show a slight decline on the same period, suggesting a shift towards greater travel demand outside the core summer season. From January to May there were nearly 565,000 additional British travellers to Spain compared with 2019.
“This is something that you can see for yourself in the destinations,” said Butler.
“In Calvia and Majorca, for example, the beaches and the attractions surrounding the beaches are now opening until mid-November – five years ago, it was until mid-October.”
Regions of Spain seeing a growth in visitors include Murcia (a 22% increase in UK visitors between January and July 2025 on the same period last year), Galicia (44% up) and the Basque Country (a 65% increase).
New routes to the country include new easyJet winter routes from Edinburgh to Malaga from October 2025; a new 2025/26 winter route between Liverpool and Almeria; a new Ryanair winter route from Stansted to Murcia; and new Wizz Air routes from Luton to Bilbao, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Seville in March 2026.
Asked whether there were any routes he’d like to exist in the future, Butler said greater UK connectivity to Seville and Oviedo would be welcome – Seville having great access to Andalusia and Extremadura (which has no airport), and Oviedo being located centrally within northern Spain.
“Extremadura is pretty unknown, and the landscape, the history, the people and so on, they are tremendous,” said Butler.
