THE TOURIST POTENTIAL

INLAND TOURISM

From a tourist point of view, certain inland localities and areas, some for years and others recently, have been converted into a complementary offer to the traditional sun and beach destination. The Tourist Observatory of the Costa del Sol have manifested some illustrating data, realized by the Society of Planification for the Provincial Board of Tourism: "the inland tourism is manifested with a great future potential, although at present the number of tourists accommodated in the municipalities is unimportant", as they only receive a 3,3% of the tourists who arrive on the coast. Nevertheless, it is pointed out that the visits to the interior by tourists "is where a larger degree of satisfaction is manifested" between each one of the analysed sections.

But continuing with some of the data of the Tourist Observatory which area illustrative, Mijas and Ronda are the most visited municipalities by vacacional tourists, both localities receiving 44% of those who have made a visit to the inland. The region of the Axarquía, on its part, has also seen an increase in the number of visits with 3,4% with regard to 1993. To these destinations there is the addition of the great demand of excursionists who move places such as the area of the Guadalhorce reservoirs - Parque de Ardales - Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, the Bobastro ruins and the localities of Antequera, Frigiliana, Torrox, Benahavis, Casares, Istán, Ojén and the already mentioned Mijas and Ronda.

To the natural conditions of the interior of the province, which generate a very high level of satisfaction as again the Tourist Observatory says that 90% of those who visit it are satisfied and 98% state that they will return, there is the addition of the public and private acts in the development of the accommodations offer. The Junta de Andalucía, through the General Management of Tourism, has developed in the last years the so-called Comprehensive Development Plans of Rural Tourism in which the province of Malaga has had a special importance regarding the public promotion of hotels, hostels, and camping, as well as the tourist town of Periana, which is at the final stages after an investment of more than 600 million pesetas.

The promoted camping combined with the municipalities have been constructed in Ardales, at the edge of the Guadalhorce reservoirs; in Fuente de Piedra near the lagoon; and in Algatocín. There are other projects which are at the stage of being carried out in localities such as Yunquera, Cañete la Real, and Antequera near El Torcal. As for the hotels and hostels with the same characteristics of public promotion, they have been erected in some localities of the Ronda highland and the Axarquía and they are in project or being carried out with a dozen establishments in Jubrique, Casarabonela, Istán, La Viñuela, Yunquera, Cortes de la Frontera, Benamocarra, Genalguacil and Cómpeta.