2016 is looking like another record-breaking year for tourism in Marbella and it seems that this influx of visitors is directly linked to the towns property market going from strength to strength.

Latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) have indicated that the number of overnight stays documented in Spain during April was a whopping 23.4 million, a rise of 1.3% compared with same month in 2015. This is an even more remarkable figure when considering that the Easter holiday fell in March this year!

A staggering 80% of the five-star resorts and hotels in Marbella were full over the Easter weekend while summer holiday bookings are also at record levels according to the ABTA travel agents association, with a significant number of bookings coming from the UK and Scandinavian countries.

Spanish tourism organisation Frontur has predicted an overall rise of 11% in overnight stays by overseas visitors throughout the year, which will make 2016 it the third record breaking year in a row for the country.

This exciting news from Spain’s tourism and travel sector is particularly significant for the real estate sector, both in Marbella and Spain as a whole. Studies from the Spanish property portal Kyero have indicated a substantial link between levels of tourism and house sales, with correlative studies showing that, as one goes up, so does the other.

Buyer Countries in the study included the UK, France, Germany and the Nordic nations as these foreign buyers tend dominate the property market regarding sales to overseas residents. What’s more, they also make up huge numbers of Spain’s international tourists.

The visitor numbers from these countries over the past few years has been unprecedented and goes a long way to help illuminate why property sales to overseas buyers rose by 60% during 2015. The region of Andalucía saw almost a quarter of all its sale properties being brought by foreign nationals last year, most of which were holiday homes in costal towns such as Marbella.