Spanish Tourism Back On Track As Holidaymaker Spending Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels
Spain News
Published: 05 May 2022 16:35 CET
Spain’s tourism sector is back on track with official figures from the government showing that holidaymakers spent more in March 2022 than they did in the same month pre-pandemic.
Average spending per tourist grew 13.6% with the average holidaymaker spending 1,257 Euros compared to the pre-pandemic figure of 1,068 Euros.
In total, tourists visiting Spain spent 5 Billion euros, 84% of the pre-pandemic level the government figures revealed.
However, the total number of visitors to the country in March was lower. In total, around 4 million international tourists visited Spain, representing 71% of the numbers that arrived three years previous according to Frontur and Egatur surveys released by the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
UK continues to send the most visitors
Once again it was the UK that sent the most visitors to Spain. In March, 826,399 British nationals visited Spain and its Islands representing 18.3% of all tourists. Brits also accounted for 20% of all tourist expenditure at 1,013 million Euros.
"Month after month, the recovery in tourism continues to consolidate. Spain closes its first quarter of 2022 with good data on international tourist arrivals and tourist spending, a trend that we hope will intensify in the summer period.
“The excellent membership data we have known in the month of April, and more specifically in the hotel industry due to the extraordinary Easter, together with the recovery of pre-pandemic levels in scheduled air capacity on international flights, which exceeds 29 million seats for the April-June quarter, are results that make us optimistic," said the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
In the first quarter of 2022, a total of 9.7 million holidaymakers arrived in Spain, increasing 696.7% on the same period in 2021 when 1.2 million arrived.
In terms of spending, there was a huge rise in the amount holidaymakers were prepared to spend compared to the same month in 2021. Tourist spending increased by 794.5%, reaching 11,853 million Euros.
The number of visitors from Germany and France which occupy second and third place also continued to grow with 608,803 (+482.2%) Germans visiting in March compared to 456,592 (+332%) arriving from France.
Among the rest of the countries of residence, the annual growth of tourists from Ireland (2,593.7%), the United States (1,976.5%) and the Nordic countries (1,292.8%) were the most notable.
Most popular destinations
So which regions of Spain saw the most tourists?
The Canary Islands was by far the most popular destination accounting for 27.9% of the total with 1.1 million visitors. The region remains popular with British tourists who made up more than 35% of the total number of visitors.
The Canaries also saw the largest amount of spending accounting for 33.1% of the total in March.
Catalonia was the second most popular destination with 703,849 (17.5%) of total visitors and 14.5% of spending.
In third place was Andalusia which remains one of the most popular regions for holidaymakers attracting 609,437 visitors (15.1%) and 14.8% of total spending.
Source
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/industria/Paginas/2022/050522-gastoturistas.aspx
