Tourism in Spain

This week I am going to talk about tourism in Spain, however i will try not sound like a brochure and try to keep it relative to Macroeconomics. Spain has always been a very profitable country in their tourism. The tourism boom really took off for Spain in the mid 1950's. The tourist industry has greatly increased since this time. In 1950 Spain had less then one million tourists, however over the years this number has skyrocketed to 50 million in 2003. The tourist boom had a significant, and not always completely beneficial, impact on the Spanish economy. Although this growing activity was a welcome source of foreign currency and created new employment opportunities, it also diverted capital investment and construction efforts away from more stable economic activities to a sector dutiful to seasonal fluctuations, the whims of fashion, and worldwide economic conditions.
Although this growth in tourism had some hidden negative effects on the Spanish government, nevertheless in 2003 net tourism accounted for 10% of total GDP. Spain had the highest net GDP in the world a few years ago in 2003. The United States had higher gross revenues, but its tourist expenditures exceeded revenues by a considerable margin.
Today the tourist industry in Spain has seen a decrease in numbers due to the global recession. Last summer Spain saw a 6.1% decrease in summer visitors. The country is among the top three in tourism in the world, measured by both arrivals and income earned. Since Spain has become reliant on their profitable tourist market , Spain's government approved a $1.42 billion aid plan to help the tourism sector ride the economic recession. Hopefully Spain will be able to sustain their tourism through these difficult times of recession and see an increase back to where their numbers use to be.