Monday, May 22, 2023, 11:58 p.m.
Tourism recovered the pre-pandemic figures in the first four months of the year, according to statistics from the tourist office, the Lorca Taller del Tiempo visitor center and the castle, which served 29,862 people at their customer service desks, compared to to 20,678 in the same period of the previous year. These figures represent an increase of more than 30% in face-to-face visitors and tourists than in the first four months of 2022. The Councilor for Tourism, Ángeles Mazuecos, told LA VERDAD, who specified that the comparisons with 2019, the reference year at world in terms of movements of national and international tourists, are “very interesting” because they demonstrate the recovery of data that was interrupted by the covid pandemic. The growth rate of foreign tourism “is slower”, and is close to 15% and that of nationals is the one that has recovered the most, having risen by 46.3%.
The mayor explained that in the first four-month period the highest percentage of visitors, 19.1%, came from Madrid and in 83% of the cases tourists from that community chose Lorca as a destination for reasons of cultural interest. Madrid was followed by the provinces of Alicante, Almería and Barcelona.
As for foreigners, the majority origin was again the United Kingdom, with 25.5% of the total visits from outside the country. Behind are French, German, Dutch and Belgian. Mazuecos specified that the opening of the caravan park next to Huerto de la Rueda has attracted foreign tourists to the city, especially from Central European countries. He also explained that of the 6,650 visitors and tourists from other municipalities in the Region, those who have visited Lorca the most are from Murcia and Cartagena, and assured that it represents an increase of 115% over the same period last year.
The national visitor is the one that has risen the most, 46.3%, and the foreigner, which has a slower pace, has grown 15%
The castle had “record” numbers of visits in the first quarter, the old collegiate church of San Patricio was visited by 2,936 people, the Paso Blanco embroidery museum (muBBla) by 10,052 people, and the Paso Azul (Mass) museum by 7,649 . Guided tours, routes and excursions were the product most requested by tourists along with dramatized tours. According to Mazuecos, the opening of the Guevara palace as a museum and the Lorca bullring, both under construction, will be a boost for tourism in the city in the coming months. The Sutullena arena will open its doors for bullfighting, concerts and sporting events in September and the baroque palace will be fully operational in October with organized visits, once its musealization is complete.
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