One of the trends in Tourism is residential tourism.
Each year thousand of families move from their home country to a new place on earth.
This could be for the sake of a better climate -- whether tax, investment, leisure, or just the weather -- or because of any other reason.
In Spain in 2002 non-residents purchased 90.
000 homes with a value of 5.
676 million Euros a 16% increase on 2001 (4.
765 million Euros).
In Malaga Province in 2002 non-residents purchased 36.
000 homes valued at 2.
270 million euros.
Of those purchasing homes, 42% were British, 28% German, 7% French, 5% Italians, 3% Belgians.
The investment in second homes by Spaniards is estimated at 2.
000 million euros.
(www.
andalucia.
com/spain/statistics/residential_tourism.
htm) Germany was recently portrayed in the newspapers regarding this emigration.
The Financial Times reported a historic maximum of emigrants, leaving a deviation in the immigration-emigration balance: Destatis, the federal statistical office, estimates that 144,815 Germans left the country last year.
Though this marked a slight decrease from 2004, it was the first time that more had left the country than returned since 1968...
The previous emigration record of 1956 was breached in 1994 and, after several years of decline, the outflow began rising again in 2001, and continued to rise up to 2004, although 2005's figure of 144,815 was slightly down on the year before.
" (www.
ft.
com/cms/s/98dffe0c-3a1f-11db-90bb-0000779e2340.
html) The impact for the traditional tourists sector is high.
In the first place because the average spending is per tourist is lower; a residential tourist spends less on tourist related activities than a normal tourist.
This is quite logical, because a residential tourist gets used to the climate and will acquire new daily habits conform its origin.
The state of mind of a residential tourist is different than a normal tourist.
Living near the beach will not automatically mean that you are having a holiday.
A holiday is an exceptional period.
Once you are resident your situation is no longer exceptional, and you will adapt your spending pattern with it.
The magnetic effect around the individual residential tourist is another important element in this change in the tourist sector.
The Residential tourist invites family and relatives to join them during the holidays or they are asked for taking care of their houses when they travel back.
This magnetic effect is cultural; people that move do not want to loose the life they had at home.
So you will find the satellite dish (with British, German and Dutch television), together with the foreign grocery shops and other economic activities that are highly concentrated as isolated cultures.
Integration becomes an issue.
The net effect on the Spanish economy is probably still positive, but for the traditional tourist sector this change is a real challenge.
© 2006 Hans Bool
Each year thousand of families move from their home country to a new place on earth.
This could be for the sake of a better climate -- whether tax, investment, leisure, or just the weather -- or because of any other reason.
In Spain in 2002 non-residents purchased 90.
000 homes with a value of 5.
676 million Euros a 16% increase on 2001 (4.
765 million Euros).
In Malaga Province in 2002 non-residents purchased 36.
000 homes valued at 2.
270 million euros.
Of those purchasing homes, 42% were British, 28% German, 7% French, 5% Italians, 3% Belgians.
The investment in second homes by Spaniards is estimated at 2.
000 million euros.
(www.
andalucia.
com/spain/statistics/residential_tourism.
htm) Germany was recently portrayed in the newspapers regarding this emigration.
The Financial Times reported a historic maximum of emigrants, leaving a deviation in the immigration-emigration balance: Destatis, the federal statistical office, estimates that 144,815 Germans left the country last year.
Though this marked a slight decrease from 2004, it was the first time that more had left the country than returned since 1968...
The previous emigration record of 1956 was breached in 1994 and, after several years of decline, the outflow began rising again in 2001, and continued to rise up to 2004, although 2005's figure of 144,815 was slightly down on the year before.
" (www.
ft.
com/cms/s/98dffe0c-3a1f-11db-90bb-0000779e2340.
html) The impact for the traditional tourists sector is high.
In the first place because the average spending is per tourist is lower; a residential tourist spends less on tourist related activities than a normal tourist.
This is quite logical, because a residential tourist gets used to the climate and will acquire new daily habits conform its origin.
The state of mind of a residential tourist is different than a normal tourist.
Living near the beach will not automatically mean that you are having a holiday.
A holiday is an exceptional period.
Once you are resident your situation is no longer exceptional, and you will adapt your spending pattern with it.
The magnetic effect around the individual residential tourist is another important element in this change in the tourist sector.
The Residential tourist invites family and relatives to join them during the holidays or they are asked for taking care of their houses when they travel back.
This magnetic effect is cultural; people that move do not want to loose the life they had at home.
So you will find the satellite dish (with British, German and Dutch television), together with the foreign grocery shops and other economic activities that are highly concentrated as isolated cultures.
Integration becomes an issue.
The net effect on the Spanish economy is probably still positive, but for the traditional tourist sector this change is a real challenge.
© 2006 Hans Bool
Source...