Marbella: Andalusia’s Most Significant Tourist Destination
Marbella has been recognized as the most significant tourist destination in Andalusia and the eighth most important in Spain for its tourism and social relevance in 2022. This ranking was compiled by Exceltur in the Atlas of Municipal Contribution of Tourism in Spain, which includes 100 municipalities.
Accommodation and Employment in Marbella’s Tourism Sector
The key data point is the volume of accommodation on offer, which is accompanied by the jobs created by the sector. Marbella ranks eighth in this ranking with 63,802 accommodation places, which also includes tourist-use homes on platforms, accounting for 54.5% of the total. Hotels contribute 26.9%, while 18.3% are apartments by keys, campsites, and rural tourism. The Exceltur report also indicates that the municipality has 12,515 tourism jobs, which it describes as the “social contribution” of each destination analyzed.
Marbella Outshines Other Andalusian Cities
Marbella is the municipality with the most significant tourist relevance in Andalusia, surpassing other cities like Seville (12th) and Malaga (14th). The Costa del Sol has a strong presence in the top 30 positions with Torremolinos (19th), Benalmádena (21st), and Mijas (27th).
Madrid and Barcelona Lead in Accommodation and Employment
Madrid and Barcelona lead the destinations with the highest volume of market accommodation places in Spain (152,000 and 127,000, respectively) and direct employment linked to tourism (72,912 and 47,143, respectively). They are followed by eight coastal destinations: Benidorm, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Salou, Adeje, and Calviá. Marbella ranks eighth, followed by Arona, just ahead of the city of Palma de Mallorca with its dual status as an urban destination and a coastal vacation spot.
Top 10 Destinations Account for Nearly a Million Tourist Places
These top 10 destinations alone account for nearly a million tourist places (849,104), out of the 5.2 million that existed in Spain in 2022 (16.2%). The complete report can be consulted here.
