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TOURISM

Eurovision spending mess endangers tourism

The chairman of the board of tourist organisation Wonderful Copenhagen steps down while regional politicians debate a cut in funding that the tourism industry fears will negatively impact business.

Eurovision spending mess endangers tourism
Conchita Wurst's victory could end up costing Denmark's tourism industry. Photo: Erlend Aas/Scanpix
The chairman of the board of tourist organisation Wonderful Copenhagen has resigned as a result of the massive overspending on May’s Eurovision contest. 
 
Michael Metz-Mørch’s resignation was welcomed by the chairwoman of the Capital Region (Region Hovedstaden), Sophie Hæstrop Andersen. 
 
Michael Metz-Mørch. Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen“With the Eurovision Song Contest, Wonderful Copenhagen has put itself in the difficult situation where there needs to be major changes in the organisation. There needs to be a calm so that we can restore confidence in Wonderful Copenhagen’s ability to carry out the important task of promoting tourism,” she told Danmarks Radio.
 
Earlier this month, final budget figures revealed that Projektselskabet, a temporary company created by Wonderful Copenhagen to put on the Eurovision bonanza, overshot its budget by some 76 million kroner ($13.6 million). 
 
 
Fabian Holt, an associate producer at Roskilde University who has done extensive research in live events and venues, told The Local earlier this month that he expected a “bloodbath” as individual responsibility would start to be placed on the “disastrous management” involved in staging the Eurovision contest.
 
May’s event in the repurposed B&W Hallerne ended up with a total deficit of 58 million kroner ($10.4 million), which will now have to be covered by Copenhagen Council, Region Hovedstaden, Wonderful Copenhagen and Refshaleøens Ejendomsselskab A/S. 
 
At a Region Hovedstaden meeting last week, Hæstrop Andersen proposed giving Wonderful Copenhagen a cash injection to cover the costs that would then be countered by a corresponding reduction in basic support to the tourist organisation in the coming years. 
 
But those in the tourism industry have warned against the move, saying it would lead to a tourism decline that could hurt numerous Copenhagen businesses and the 48,000 workers employed in the city’s tourism industry. 
 
Katia Østergaard, the head of Horests, the national trade association for the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry, advised against a cut in future tourism support. 
 
“The tourism industry is a core business area for the capital. Not just for the people who work directly in the industry in hotels, restaurants and attractions, but also for the people who work in the retail and transport industries, among others,” Østergaard told Danmarks Radio.
 
“Denmark is a very small destination out in the big wide world and therefore it requires that we are in a position to put Denmark and our capital on the world map,” she added.
 
A one-time payment from Region Hovedstaden would allow Wonderful Copenhagen to pay off its debt to Danmarks Radio,which loaned Projektselskabet 43 million kroner during preparations for Eurovision. Danmarks Radio has repeatedly rejected any notion that it bares responsibility for Eurovision running so massively over its budget. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Almost 800,000 fewer UK holidaymakers have visited Spain in 2023 when compared to 2019. What’s behind this big drop?

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate). 

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average. 

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal. 

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun. 

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring. 

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022. 

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices. 

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

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