- Travelers from the US to Castilla y León increased by 26% last year, placing it as the fifth country that sends tourists to Castilla y León
- Nearly 7,000 American students chose the Community to learn Spanish in 2023
October 12, 2024
Castile and León | Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports
The Deputy Minister of Cultural Action and Commissioner for the Spanish Language, Mar Sancho, is participating these days in a promotional action in the US, with different presentations, work meetings and meetings with professionals in the sector, publicizing the cultural and tourism offer. of Spanish teaching in Castilla y León.
This new impulse to the international tourism promotion of the Community has been developed on the west coast of the United States, in the state of Washington, the seventh state with the highest per capita income of the fifty that make up the country. Among the promotional actions carried out, different presentations of the tourist offer of Castilla y León to tour operators specialized in international travel, on the one hand, and in cultural and excellence tourism, on the other, stand out, as well as meetings with large tour package managers in the United States.
On the other hand, collaboration alliances have been established with influential agents in the field of tourism, such as the case of Rick Steves Europe, which in addition to a successful television program about travel, markets tourist packages to Europe and, for the first time, It is expected to incorporate Castilla y León in its cultural tourism proposals.
Likewise, promotional campaigns and presentations of Castilla y León as a tourist destination have been carried out at the Seattle Film Festival and the Festival of Spain in Washington.
The United States is one of the international markets with the greatest growth capacity in tourists to Castilla y León. The number of travelers from the United States to Spain increased by 38% last year in 2023 compared to the previous year, making it the country with the largest increase in traveler arrivals in the world. There were 173,300 Americans who visited Castilla y León in 2023, 8.27% of the total international travelers and an increase of 26.30% compared to the previous year.
Spanish teaching
Within the work agenda in the US, specific actions have been carried out to promote Castilla y León as a destination to study Spanish. Last year 2023, 52,226 Spanish students arrived in Castilla y León, 22% more than in 2022, of which 13.36%, almost 7,000, came from the United States. Along with actions aimed at recruiting Spanish students, the Deputy Minister of Cultural Action and Commissioner for the Spanish Language has held meetings with the State of Washington, the first in the United States to approve a law implementing bilingualism in Spanish in its classrooms , as well as with the University of Washington, to train American teachers in Castilla y León who teach bilingual classes in Spanish. Sancho has met with the rector of the University of Washington to advance the collaboration agreement signed last April and which specifies both the training of teachers and the arrival of university students to learn Spanish in Castilla y León. Likewise, an agreement has been reached with Bellevue, the district with the largest number of bilingual centers in Spanish in the United States, so that its teachers can be trained in Castilla y León.
In addition, the vice counselor also held a meeting with the board and numerous members of American Pilgrims on the Camino, a national association based in Washington and present in 32 states and representation in 72 cities in the United States, which provides information and training to American pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. At the meeting, a collaboration framework was established to expand the presence of associated pilgrims in the territory of Castilla y León, which has almost 400 kilometers of the traditional French Way.
