According to Exceltur, the alliance for excellence in tourism, the Spanish tourism sector has managed to put the brakes on the freefall it had gone into at the beginning of 2008, but is still a long way from recovering and will expect to see a 5.6% drop overall in 2009.

The small improvement seen in the second quarter of the year has been the result of a slight increase in domestic tourism, but numbers of foreign tourists are still dropping.

The Spanish tourism sector saw a 1.6% drop last year, but this year's expected fall of over 5% means that the sector is looking at its worst fall ever.

A change in holidaying style has been noticed this year amongst Spanish tourists who are not travelling as far, are choosing cheaper accommodation and spending less once they are there.

The Bank of Spain has confirmed a 17.3% drop in Spaniards travelling abroad in the first part of this year, German tourists registered 1.5 million fewer overnight stays between March and May than during the same period in 2008 and British tourists only registered a million overnight stays in the country between the same dates, reminiscent of the worst figures over the past decade.
 
The recession appears to have affected all areas of Spain equally and Exceltur is hoping that the upcoming Council of Tourism Ministers in Palma de Mallorca on July 24th will bring about a 'renewed tourism strategy for the country as a whole... and a firm commitment to helping tourism become a key sector in the future and a motor for economic recovery.'