The communities that receive the most tourists in the semester are Catalonia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands
Spain received a total of 37.5 million international tourists in the first six months of the year, which is 23.7% more than in the same period of the previous year, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) made public. this Wednesday that show how these tourists spent some 46,011 million euros in that period, 28.3% more than in 2022.
The tourism sector continues to bring joy to Spain. During the first six months of the year, our country received a total of 37.5 million tourists, a very high figure but still 1.6% lower than that registered in the first half of 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic had not yet broken out. coronavirus worldwide.
The most positive data comes from spending following the government’s strategy to achieve higher quality tourism for our country. Thus, in the first six months of the year, the tourists who visited us spent more than 46,000 million in Spain, 28.3% more than in 2022 and 14.3% more than in 2019, significantly growing average spending and spending newspaper that in June grew almost 8% to 188 euros.
For the acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, “the excellent data on the increase in tourist spending, together with the very good number of tourist arrivals, shows the success of the Government’s commitment to quality and excellence to continue as world leaders in tourism”.
The head of Tourism also highlighted “the extraordinary growth in tourism from the United States, which implies a revaluation of our destinations and the confirmation that we are a country with a very attractive high-quality offer.”
The main source countries in the first six months of the year were the United Kingdom (with close to 7.8 million tourists and an annual increase of 19.8%), France (almost 4.9 million and an increase of 23.3% ) and Germany (with almost 4.9 million, 10.8% more).
By destination, in the first semester the communities that received the most tourists were Catalonia (with 7.9 million and an increase of 30.5% compared to the same period in 2022), the Canary Islands (with 6.8 million and an increase of 18, 5%) and the Balearic Islands (with 5.7 million, 9.8% more)
MORE THAN 8 MILLION VISITORS IN JUNE, MAINLY BRITISH.
In June Spain received the visit of 8.3 million international tourists, 10.9% more than in the same month of 2022, with the United Kingdom being the main issuing market with almost 2 million tourists, 23.8% of the total . They are followed by Germany with 1.1 million visitors (1.3% less in annual rate) and France with 925,133 (6.4%) more.
Last June, the Balearic Islands (24.7%) was the main destination chosen by international tourists to visit Spain, followed by Catalonia (21.9%) and Andalusia (13.9%).
The airport route was the one that served as the entrance to the largest number of tourists in June, with more than 7 million, representing an annual increase of 9.5%. 15.2% more tourists arrived by road, 26% more by rail and 49.2% more by port.
Almost 7 million tourists used hotel accommodation or rental homes for their holidays in Spain, while another 1.3 million opted for owned homes or houses of relatives or friends. Leisure, recreation and holidays was the main reason for the trip to Spain for 7.3 million tourists, representing an annual increase of 9.1%
Most of them came without a contracted tourist package (about 6 million) with an average stay in Spain of between four and seven nights, according to the Statistics on Tourist Movements at Borders (Frontur).
EXPENDITURE GROWS MORE THAN 28%.
In the first half of the year, these tourists spent a total of 46,011 million euros in our country, 28.3% more than in the same period of the previous year. If this accumulated figure is compared with the data from 2019, before the pandemic, tourist spending is 14.3% higher.
In the first six months of 2023, the United Kingdom was the country with the highest accumulated spending (18% of the total), reaching 8,294 million euros. They are followed by Germany (12.3% of the total) with 5,682 million euros and France (7.9% of the total) with 3,629 million euros of spending.
In the first semester, the main destination communities with the highest accumulated spending were the Canary Islands (with 20.7% of the total), Catalonia (18.8%) and Andalusia (14.3%).
The INE data show that total tourist spending in Spain last June reached 10,606 million euros, which represents an increase of 17.5% compared to the same month of 2022 and 9.5% above the of the same month of 2019.
The average cost per tourist was 1,275 euros, with an annual increase of 5.9%. For its part, average daily spending grew by 7.9%, to 188 euros, according to data from the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur).
TRANSPORTATION EXPENDITURE GROWS BY 25%.
Spending on international transportation (not included in the tourist package) was the main item, with 21.3% of total spending and an increase of 24.8% compared to the same month in 2022. It is followed by spending on activities and the spending on tourist packages, with 20.8% and 17.4% of the total, respectively.
64.2% of total spending in June was made by tourists who stayed overnight in hotel accommodation, with an annual increase of 11%. For its part, spending on accommodation owned or owned by family and friends grew by 42.2%, according to data from the INE.
The spending of tourists without a tourist package (which represents 74.5% of the total) increased by 15.8% in the annual rate, while that of those who contracted tourist packages increased by 22.8%.
Tourists who visited Spain for leisure generate 87% of total spending (with a disbursement 17.4% higher than June 2022), according to the INE.
