The good links between the province and the center of Spain thanks to the AVE and the rest of Europe are a key factor

Key infrastructures that helps the tourism sector achieve its goal are the AVE line with Madrid and the Alicante-Elche airport, which during the current off-season has been consolidated as the main main gateway to the province of foreign and national tourism. The terminal maintains direct links with 81 European cities, most of them at two and a half hours far from Alicante, and has opened seven connections with respect to the previous winter, among which the Alicante-Lisbon daily flight, consolidated 365 days a year, stands out.

Other new flights connect Alicante Airport with Milan, Billund and Kaunas operated by Ryanair, Alicante-Nantes operated by Vueling and the one that connects the Costa Blanca with Iceland all year round, specifically Alicante-Reykjavic operated by the airline Wow Air. Of the 81 routes, ten are national. In particular, links with Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Asturias, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago and Tenerife.

Ryanair offers four new routes at the airport where it will move between this November and April 2018 a total of 3.8 million passengers. The new destinations will be Milan-Malpensa, Frankfurt, Billund and Kaunas (Lithuania). The last three are incorporated into the programming throughout the year thanks to their good level of occupation and the high demand for places.

The opening of the tourist areas of Tunisia (without additional fees for accommodation and with prices 20% cheaper on average than those of the provincial tourist sector) has, on the other hand, the hotel sector of the Costa Blanca on guard this winter. After closing one of the best tourist years in its history, now also faces the commercialization of the summer seats of 2018 with the added tension of the awakening of a quality competitor and cheaper as it is Tunisia, and much less sensitive to the fluctuations of The pound.

The positive effect of the Costa Blanca as a safe destination remains, but the British and German tour operators have re-incorporated the beaches of the North African country after three years closed to their brochures, and that adds pressure to prices. In fact, much of the tourist boom that has registered the Spanish Mediterranean in recent years has been due, in part, to the crisis in Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey, which have made possible, for example, the growth of up to half a million of new passengers at the Alicante-Elche airport, which this year will close with close to 14 million passengers, a new record.