Madrid , Spain ( CNN ) -- The political turmoil in Egypt and Tunisia has European tour operators scrambling to divert package tours to more stable destinations , and several thousand tourists have already been re-routed to beaches in Spain , a Spanish tourism industry official told CNN . `` We ca n't be happy about unfortunate circumstances elsewhere , '' said Rafael Gallego Nadal , president of the Spanish Federation of Travel Agency Associations . `` But the increase ( in tourists ) has arrived at an important moment '' as Spain recovers from a deep economic slump . In addition to the few thousand extra British , German and Scandinavian holidaymakers who 've already arrived in Spain 's Canary Islands , predictions are there could be tens of thousands of additional vacationers by May , Gallego said . For now , the seven-island Canaries archipelago , located in the Atlantic Ocean just west of Morocco , is the only part of Spain that can compete directly with Egypt and Tunisia for the beach vacation business in winter . But if the political uncertainty continues in North Africa into the spring and summer , the package tours diverted from those destinations to Spain 's Mediterranean coast and islands could involve hundreds of thousands of additional tourists this year , Gallego said . Tunisia 's beaches have been a prime destination for French tourists , Gallego said , and some of them could be diverted to Spain 's coasts by next summer as well . Russian and Eastern European tourists who had holiday tours set for Egypt or Tunisia may instead go in greater numbers to Turkey , Gallego said , based on information that he said is making the rounds among tour operators and travel agencies . Egypt had nearly 12 million international tourist arrivals in 2009 , compared with nearly 7 million for Tunisia , and 52 million for Spain , which is among the world 's top four tourist destinations , along with France , the United States and China , the United Nations World Tourism Organization reports . Spain 's Canary Islands had 11 million tourists , including foreigners and Spaniards , in 2010 , a three percent increase over 2009 . The extra tourists now diverted from Egypt and Tunisia are helping the Canaries to recover , said Gallego , who is based in Las Palmas on the Gran Canaria island . But diverting package tours from North Africa to Spain or other locations is not always an instant maneuver . A package tour in the Canary Islands costs about 30 percent more than a similar beach holiday in Egypt or Tunisia , Gallego said . So hard-fought negotiations over prices have ensued , in which the Spanish hotel operators may agree to a lower price which still turns out to be more than the tour operator and individual tourist were going to pay in Egypt or Tunisia , Gallego said .
Spain is one of the top four tourist destinations . Thousands more tourists could be rerouted to Spain this year . The numbers could boost the Spanish economy . Comment: