As a European credit rating agency with a strong focus on the Spanish and French markets, EthiFinance Ratings has taken a keen interest in how 2024 proved to be another year of sustained growth for the tourism industry, continuing the upward trend seen since the pandemic. Indeed, tourism minister Jordi Hereu announced on 15 January that 94m tourists visited Spain last year, a 10% rise from 2023 and the highest annual figure since records began, solidifying Spain’s position as the world’s second-most visited destination, behind only France (which received over 100m visitors, a record for that country too).

The key question is will 2024 mark a peak or will it go on to set fresh records in 2025? Before being able to answer that question it is necessary to assess the key characteristics of the hotel sector that EthiFinance Ratings uses to draw its analysis.