BANGKOK, 24 June 2024: Spain has witnessed a surge in tourist arrivals, surpassing pre-Covid-19 levels by 1.9% in 2023, with a total of 85,056,228 visitors, as reported by Spain Tourism during a recent travel agents’ product update in Bangkok.
The Thai outbound travel market has also seen significant growth, with 47,000 Thai visitors to Spain in 2023. This increase is largely driven by travel agents’ itineraries despite rising airfares and the absence of direct flights between Bangkok and Spain’s primary gateway cities, Madrid and Barcelona.
Iberojet, a low-cost airline based in Madrid, introduced a weekly direct flight from Madrid to Bangkok in late May, primarily catering to Spanish tourists visiting Thailand. This service is set to continue during the winter season from November 2024 to March 2025. The airline hopes to attract local bookings from the Thai outbound market.
The Spain Tourism Product Update, attended by approximately 80 Bangkok-based travel agents, was hosted by Spain Tourism board director Marta Fernandez Martin, who oversees marketing for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Turkish Airlines, the supporting airline, offers twice-daily flights from Bangkok to Istanbul, with connections to Barcelona and Madrid.
Martin expressed her team’s efforts in lobbying Thai Airways International to reintroduce direct flights to Spain. “Direct flights from Bangkok to Spain would boost family travel during the summer season and encourage more independent travelers,” she stated. Martin highlighted Spain’s trending status in 2024 and anticipated an increase in Thai family visits during the 2025 summer school holidays.
Thai Airways discontinued its Bangkok-Madrid direct flights in January 2015, after operating the route since the late 1980s. If the airline resumes service to Spain, it would likely start with three weekly flights to Barcelona on a seasonal basis, from April to October.
Martin acknowledged the higher airfares post-pandemic due to rising fuel costs, which remain the main expense for long-haul travel. Despite only one weekly direct flight between Bangkok and Spain, travelers often need to connect through cities in the Middle East or Europe, extending travel time to over 15 hours.
The introduction of city tourism taxes in popular destinations like Barcelona has added to travel costs. This tax, not applicable nationwide, is intended to balance the carbon footprint and improve the environment. Barcelona increased the tax to EUR3.45 per person per night in April 2024.
While the tourist tax is not universal across Spain’s 17 regions, its adoption in more cities is likely as it supports sustainable tourism and local initiatives. The most significant expense for travelers remains airfare, which has increased significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
However, there are still some roundtrip fares below USD 1,000 for summer travel from Bangkok to Barcelona, with a plane change in Europe or the Middle East. Travelers are encouraged to check platforms like Google Flights for the best fare deals for July travel.