I´ve just been watching a feature on GMTV saying that the number of British visitors to Spain was down by 20% in January, compared to the same month last year.

Hardly surprising really, is it? Since January 2008, the world has changed for all of us, and a lot of those cheap trips to Spain for us Brits have been shelved whilst we try to balance the books and survive the credit crunch and the recession in general.

Additionally, chose ´cheap´ trips that I mentioned are not so cheap anymore, and this is undoubtedly a major contributing factor to the downturn in British tourist numbers. It´s surely no coincidence that sterling has lost around 15% of its value against the euro in the last 12 months. There´s an almost direct correlation between the falling pound and the falling number of British tourists to Spain.

Well-known Marbella businessman and local celebrity, Maurice Boland, was interviewed by GMTV, and he stressed that while the sun was still shining, people would still flock to the popular destinations such as the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca. Boland expects British tourist traffic to increase over Easter and into the summer months, as more Spanish holidays are booked last-minute.

I´m not entirely convinced. Although many holidaymakers are indeed leaving it late to book their summer vacations, mainly to see how sterling fares against the euro, I think a large proportion have already arranged to venture further afield, outside of the eurozone, to places such as Turkey and Egypt.

However, I firmly believe that once sterling recovers a little of its lost ground against the euro, you will see the Brits returning to the costas – fundamentally, it´s still the favourite holiday destination in Europe. The Brits´ love affair with Spain may be on rocky ground, but it looks set to continue.