Friday, January 24, 2025
At today’s FITUR Lingua session at IFEMA Madrid, a spotlight was cast on the flourishing niche of language tourism within Spain. It was disclosed that last year, over 158,000 students chose Spain as their destination to learn Spanish, which brought in about €454 million in economic advantages. This presentation is part of the wider FITUR trade show, which opened today and will run until January 26. A separate report presented at the same venue indicated that in the previous year, Spain hosted more than 600,000 international students, who altogether injected over €6 billion into the national economy.
The event was organized by FITUR in collaboration with FEDELE, the Spanish Federation of Schools of Spanish as a Foreign Language, and featured an extensive program of talks and panel discussions. These sessions provided a forum for educators, institutions, and business leaders to debate and devise plans to support the expansion of this crucial sector.
Eva Laguna, President of FEDELE, stated that FITUR Lingua “attracts an increasing
number of companies and professionals in the Spanish language sector and will
continue to grow in coming years, both in attendance and activities.” She highlighted
“the significant growth FEDELE experienced in 2024, reflecting the robust state of
language tourism.” She also emphasized “the critical role of teachers, without whom it
would be impossible to teach the language and promote Spanish worldwide,” and
reminded that “by 2030, 600 million people globally will speak Spanish, a
development closely linked to tourism.”
David Trigo, FEDELE’s General Manager, confirmed that “2024 was a record-breaking year in terms of student numbers and their economic impact.” He added that “FITUR Lingua has been a key driver for the growth of the language tourism sector.” Daniel Escalona, FEDELE’s Marketing Director, presented a sector report showing that federated schools hosted 158,800 students in 2024, an 11.42% increase from 2023. “The primary markets remain Germany, Italy, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, which account for a third of the centers. Students spent a total of 631,469 weeks at our schools, averaging 3.97 weeks per student. Digital enrollment reached 7,061 students. The economic footprint reached €454 million, including all expenses incurred by students in Spain.”
The day’s events highlighted Spain’s prominent position as a premier destination for international students. A significant economic analysis conducted by Spain Education Programs, in partnership with ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones and EDUESPAÑA, was unveiled, noting the economic contributions of over 600,000 international students in 2023.
Ceballos stressed the need to “delve deeper into analyses to identify different types of students and their behaviors, as well as to focus on big data and social media feedback from schools, which offer valuable insights for identifying emotions and concepts.” Laguna advocated for “a platform to consolidate all student information, enabling better data collection on language tourism.” García highlighted that “data collection on Spanish students must be agile and include feedback from prospective students who have not yet visited Spain.”
A panel discussion moderated by David Trigo examined these findings in depth. Eva Laguna and Cristina Ceballos from the University of Seville’s Faculty of Tourism and Finance, alongside Bárbara García from Spain Education Programs, provided expert commentary. Their discussion underscored the importance of meticulous research and data scrutiny in understanding the complex dynamics and ongoing trends in Spain’s language tourism.
This key event in language tourism in Spain brings together hundreds of professionals. Logroño’s mayor, Conrado Escobar, promised that “the Fourth Spanish Language Week in Logroño and San Millán de la Cogolla will be packed with experiences for visitors.” He highlighted that “La Rioja offers an ideal natural, scenic, and wine-producing environment to enhance the experience of sharing a unique language.”
Additional sessions explored the broader scope of language tourism, discussing successful models not only in Spanish but also in French, German, and English. Strategies from globally recognized educational hubs that attract language learners were shared by Elena Fernández, with contributions from Sossy Vega of the International Student Identity Card, Carlos Soler Montes from ELEUK, and Marcelo García from the Association of Language Centers in Argentina.
The event also tackled current challenges and explored future prospects in language tourism through a panel that included Francisco Gutiérrez, Daniel Escalona, Guillermo Escribano, and David Gómez. Further discussions emphasized the global importance of the Spanish language, the influence of government policies, and the value of international collaboration.
Additionally, FITUR Lingua provided a networking area facilitated by FEDELE, where member schools could engage with various industry stakeholders interested in the educational and cultural aspects of linguistic tourism.
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