Malaga woos Chinese tourists

Malaga is vying for the highly lucrative Chinese tourist market, but it is coming under stiff competition from Seville. 

Talks are underway in Beijing between the Junta de Andalusia and Chinese authorities who are looking to start up direct flights between China and Andalusia. Malaga airport is under no doubt which Andalus airport is their choice and is promoting the Costa del Sol as the most attractive destination for Chinese tourists. The state-owned Air China is weighing up which airport to choose between Seville and Malaga.

Boost for Chinese/Malaga commerce

Another interesting aspect for commerce in Malaga is that with a new direct route from Beijing, the opportunity for trade in goods would also benefit the region, not least since the announcement of the Chinese-backed green hydrogen plant announced recently for Malaga.

Malaga as central Andalusian hub

One element that weighs slightly more to the Seville choice is that the Chinese tend to prefer more cultural holidays to sites of historical significance over beach holidays, and while both Malaga and Seville offer incredible historical references, Malaga’s marketing has tended to bias itself as a more sun, sea and sand style of holiday destination. Representatives from the Malaga province are pushing hard to sell Malaga airport as a central hub in Andalusia with a general equidistance between the major southern and historical cities, of Granada, Cordoba and Seville.

Wherever Air China finally decides to fly to, the new direct route is expected to bring in at least 50,000 more tourists a year, and recoup much of the Asian demographic in local hotels lost during the pandemic.