The Spanish Outbound Travel Market to Africa and the Middle East

Executive Summary
This report aims to provide a better understanding of the Spanish outbound market
towards Africa and Middle East. Several insights have been gained through research,
and the following ten are considered especially relevant:
� The Spanish economy is powerful (8th world’s GDP), but is currently struggling with
serious difficulties derived from employment destruction and frozen internal
demand.
� The level of trips abroad is still relatively small in Spain. Only 7% of the total
number of trips taken by the Spaniards is to a destination outside Spain. The good
news is that the participation of Spain in international tourism is steadily growing.
This growth is particularly strong in terms of expenditure (+10% in the 2005 to 2008
period).
� When the Spanish travel abroad they go mainly to Europe (namely France,
Portugal and Italy), where they seek cultural excitement and hospitality. In 2008,
the Spanish made around 1 million trips to Africa and Middle East.
� The absence of historical and economic links with African or Middle Eastern
countries is relenting tourism flows towards these destinations. Morocco, with the
strongest ties, receives more than half the trips from Spain to Africa and the Middle
East.
� Currently, the regions Africa and Middle East are limited, in terms of potential
destinations for the Spanish, to 15-20 countries. The highest barrier is related with
lack of awareness and biased preconceptions.
� The greatest opportunities for destinations in Africa and the Middle East in this
market are related to new consumer behaviour trends, namely the eagerness for
unknown and for memorable experiences.
� Factors explaining destination choice are: distance, existence of direct air
connections, perception of security, economic links, perception of value-for-money,
quality and uniqueness of local attractions and preconceptions.
� Besides improving destination awareness (with better branding strategies), two
other key success factors have been identified: giving the travel agent a key role
(only 35% of travellers in Spain go online), and being strongly competitive on price.
� Still, e-commerce is soaring in Spain: lastest available data shows an extraordinary
increase of 71% from 2006 to 2007. Air tickets and accommodation are first and
third on the list of items bought online in Spain.
� Several marketing tools have been pointed out as the most effective ones for the
Spanish market (TV infomercials, Familiarization Trips, Fairs and Co-Marketing
being the top four). National institutions in Spain should also play an active
supporting role.