Tourist discounts are designed to make Spain top of the shops

Spending by foreigners visiting Spain has increased in the past 12 months

Some of Spain’s largest retailers are wooing foreign tourists with the promise of discounts, interpreters and greater service in an effort to tempt them to splash more cash while in Spain.

Spending by foreigners in Spain has increased in the past 12 months, but retailers such as Mango and El Corte Inglés have upped their ad spend in in-flight and other tourist magazines as they try to make up the shortfall in spending by locals.

It is a risky tactic, with Bloomberg magazine reporting of disgruntled locals annoyed that they are effectively excluded from these deals and discounts in favour of foreign visitors…

“Tourists were always more important to us but they have become much more relevant since the crisis started, Cortefiel SA’s chief corporate officer, Ignacio Sierra, told Bloomberg.

During the past few stormy years for Spain’s economy, tourism has remained one of the country’s only bright spots, with Brits, Germans and Scandinavians loyally pitching up all year round. But now a new breed of tourists – predominantly wealthy individuals from China and Russia – have started to arrive, and they have not gone unnoticed by Spain’s retailers.

Other chains have explored partnerships with travel agencies in attempts to have store visits added as part of the holiday package – a move that is proving popular in Russia.

And last July, the government permitted shops that are larger than 300 square metres to stay open 25 per cent longer on weekdays, and for two extra Sundays each year.

Such efforts have helped increase sales in most of Spain’s key touristic cities, according to Cortefiel, and last year tourism accounted for 11.1 per cent of Spain’s GDP – up from 10.8 in 2011.

Currently, 50 per cent of all visitor spend in Spain goes on hotels, bars and restaurants. Transport and leisure pursuits (such as tickets for shows and theme parks) accounts for 26 per cent of tourism spend, while the remaining 24 per cent goes on goods and services.