The Spanish government has increased funding for Turespana’s developing market six-fold to attract high spending tourists from non traditional markets.
The tourism promotion body attached to the Ministry of Industry and Tourism will receive elevenm euros in 2026 as part of the institutional advertising plan with the aim of drawing visitors from the United States Latin America Asia and the Middle East to diversify beyond core European sources and boost premium travel revenue.
While there hasn’t been a general six-fold increase in the total Turespaña budget, the Spanish government has implemented its largest-ever public investment in the sector—€3.4bn through the Plan for the Modernisation and Competitiveness of the Tourism Sector.
This massive funding drive is specifically designed to shift the focus from “quantity to quality,” targeting high-spending tourists and non-traditional markets through several key initiatives:
The government is successfully targeting “rest of the world” markets beyond Europe, which saw a 25.8pc growth in the first half of 2024 alone.
New strategies focus on luxury and business (MICE) tourism, with business travelers spending an average of €1,392 per trip—nearly 30pc more than holiday tourists.
A €500m investment was recently announced to preserve cultural heritage and promote “inland” tourism to attract visitors interested in art, gastronomy, and “slow travel” rather than just sun and beach.
These policies are working; while visitor numbers grew by 3.5pc in 2025 to reach 97m, total spending grew even faster at 6.8pc, reaching a record €135bn.
To further penetrate non-traditional markets like China, the government is investing in technological platforms and tools like specialised WeChat mini-programs to better cater to the specific consumption patterns of Asian travelers.
