Comment from Alison
Time: September 5, 2007, 7:08 pm

Who nicked the ‘k’ off knickers?…

Comment from ValenciaSon
Time: September 5, 2007, 7:48 pm

Maybe the K fell of when they went in a twist

Comment from richardksa
Time: September 6, 2007, 3:25 pm

Holiday destinations are matters of changing tastes and fashions. Ten years ago a Maltese holtel owner, who had just invested heavily in modernisation, was worried that the masses would stop coming to Malta and go to Turkey. This might happen in Spain, but although the holiday industry is massive, other businesses are now coming though.
Spanish companies are themselves are investing heavily abroad; Telefonica and Ferrovial to name but two. Other companies are busy building an infrastructure here. This I see as a healthy realisation that Spain must not put all its eggs in one basket.
Perhaps those who once saw buying Spanish property as an investment might adjust their sights to eastern Europe or the Middle or Far East, but for others the quality of life is what matters. So long as Spain has a lower cost of living than Britain (say), they will surely keep coming.
And judging by my son’s comments when I spoke to him recently, I doubt if the fleshpots of Ibiza have too much to worry about for the near future at least.

Comment from Jill
Time: September 6, 2007, 8:34 pm

Maybe you should put knickers/panties for your american friends otherwise they might think you’re refering to knikerbockers:) I’m afraid M.Houellebecq could well be right, when we bought in Murcia 20 years ago few had ever heard of it - now we’re teeming with retired Brits and an explosion of building cranes.
It’s really impressive that your podcasts are totally unscripted - what a professional you are Ben.

Comment from Ben
Time: September 7, 2007, 9:27 am

Jill, you are too kind!

Comment from Ben
Time: September 7, 2007, 9:29 am

Richard - Houellebecq did actually mention that Ibiza would be the one place that wouldn’t change, so your son can expect the good times to last!

Comment from parubin
Time: September 7, 2007, 10:19 am

I think tourist industry will still be huge in Spain, despite other newer and more extotic destinations. More visitors come to Spain every year. It has some points that are very relevant : It’s very accessible from anywhere in Europe, its in the EU, the weather…

Of course us Europeans like to travel to different parts of the world, but nowadays a very big porcentage of people travel abroad once or more than once a year in comparison to, say, 30 years ago. There are new markets (eastern europeans…) as well as new destinations.

Spanish people also travel a lot now, both inside of Spain and abroad…

What maybe needs to be adjusted is the type of tourism coming to Spain (mostly the sun, beach & sangrí­a type in guiri-ghetto) to other segments : cultural tourism, rural tourism, new places in Spain other that the most popular destinations (for instance the interior or the north), gastronomy & wine tourism is on the rise too as well as bussiness tourism (international conferences…)

In the last years some new venues have been very successful in bringing up visitors (golf courses, music festivals…) and some other have to be encouraged too.

Residential visitors (people who buy real estate in Spain and live here a number of months each year) is still strong. Once thing is having a wonderful holiday in Morrocco (or the like) and another thing is thinking about buying property there…

My main worry is that tourism industry in Spain has not always been enviromentally conscious. How many building attrocities can be seen in large portions of the coast of Spain??

And, the last thing, is that some Spanish tourism companies are among the biggest in the world. Many Spanish companies (hotel chains etc…) have invested heavily in different tourism areas of the world in order to diversify markets : Meliá, RIU, NH, Barceló, Iberostar… to name a few own many resorts in the Caribean, South East Asia, the Mediterraneum, Europe….

Comment from Ben
Time: September 7, 2007, 11:15 am

That’s true, I think when we went to the Dominican Republic years ago, most of the resorts were owned by Catalan companies!