Language Tourism on the Costa del Sol
Language tourism is on the rise, and we want more – The Costa del Sol, Malaga Tourism Centre is pushing promotions and encouraging foreign students to come to the Costa del Sol to learn Spanish. The Centre is well known for it’s language school, and wishes to heavily promote the language segment to foreign students. Currently the centre is the leader in the province for it’s accredited teaching centres by the Instituto Cervantes de Andalucía and 15% of the total of those from Spain.
The Tourism Costa del Sol Centre wishes to strengthen it’s relationship with students and gives them an extraordinary tool to take full advantage of. Language tourism is a segment that is rapidly growing in Malaga province. Recently, the centre has appealed to German students and is offering German students an Erasmus Plus scholarship at the Maravillas school. It’s also extended the invitation to Italian students, encouraging them to apply.
Those wishing to explore language tourism or wish to participate, will visit Malaga for three weeks to complete their training. During their stay they make several visits to the tourist establishments as well as, visiting the centre to see for themselves all the facilities offered.
According to a study by Turismo Costa del Sol, the province has close to half of centers accredited by the Instituto Cervantes de Andalucía and 15% of the total of those in Spain. This same study highlights that some 30,000 people arrive in the province to take part in language tourism.
The total production generated by this type of tourism amounts, according to the latest study available to the entity in 2016, at 111.8 million euros, of which 56.3% is direct production and the remaining 43.7% corresponds to indirect and induced production.
These numbers also translate into employment opportunities. So far, around 1,510 jobs around language tourism has been generated.
Arturo Bernal, Director of Tourism Costa del Sol has stated:
“For almost seven years, the strategy of the Costa del Sol has been based on identifying new business opportunities to expand the offer of the destination and look for new tourist niches that allow us grow, also in the autumn and winter season, giving a boost to our tourist segments, among them the language tourism sector “.
Language Tourism is creating Jobs on the Costa del Sol
Most of the students that arrive in the province are according to this Study, Germans, followed by tourists from the United Kingdom and Italy. Then, in a second group are the Nordic countries including Holland, as well like France, Russia and the United States. More than half of the language tourists are below 18 years of age.
Three out of ten tourists choose to stay with a family; It is the main Chosen option. The student residence is the second typology, that one of every four students uses. The average stay of the tourist language is estimated at 27.1 days, although it is true that the stay of four out of ten students is from nine to fifteen days.
The dynamic profile of the language student stands out: 95.1% of them stated that they had carried out various activities in the destination during the stay. Of course, the internet is the main source of information about the language offer of the centers in the Costa del Sol, to which users give a score of 9.16 out of 10 as a grade, with a 9 out of 10 in satisfaction rating.
The students especially value the teaching method, the relationship quality-price, the teaching material and the teaching staff, all with scores close to 9 out of 10.
Arturo Bernal values the segment of language tourism, stating:
“Without a doubt, the Costa del Sol has shown its enormous potential to encourage the students who come to our province to learn Spanish and to enjoy all that’s here. The potential for language tourism must continue to be encouraged and promoted, especially in the off season.”
For this reason, “we want to reinforce language tourism because of its interest in multiplying effect that it generates, since it not only attracts relatives of the same, but it gets the loyalty of the tourist that comes with the order to learn our language. In this we work tirelessly, in loyalty with presentations like the one made to make them feel like in his own home, “Bernal concluded.
