Tourists return to Spain in their millions to give Spanish economy major boost

Spain welcomed a whopping 4.32 million international visitors in February, and they spent more on average than pre-pandemic tourists.

According to figures from Spain's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, in January and February 8.5 million international tourists came to Spain, 50 percent more than a year ago and only 1.3 percent below pre-pandemic levels. In the first two months of the year, tourists spent €10.5 billion, 54.7 percent more than a year earlier and over €1 billion (12.9 percent) more than in the same period in 2019.

Spain's Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, described it as an "an exceptional start to the year for tourism, on the eve of Easter, when we expect to break records in terms of occupancy and spending".

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The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism tweeted outline the headline figure this morning, with a link where you can read a more thorough breakdown of the statistics. You can also find it here.

📊España recibe 8,5 millones de #turistas internacionales en los dos primeros meses de 2023, un 50% más que hace un año.@Hectorgomezh: "Prevemos que esta Semana Santa se batan récords de ocupación y gasto".

✍️https://t.co/HTX0O63ywQ pic.twitter.com/drDgWdDLec

— Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo (@mincoturgob) April 3, 2023

Big spenders

But not only is the Spanish tourism sector continuing its recovery, the return of international visitors is bringing with it more money than ever into the Spanish economy. Spending in February was 14.3 percent higher overall than before the pandemic, with tourists spending €5.3 billion compared to €4.65 billion in February 2019, according to figures from Spain National Statistics Institute (INE).

The average expenditure per tourist stood at €1,233 in February, 3.8 percent more than in 2022, and the average expenditure per person per day grew by a significant 19.2 percent, to €163.

Compared to pre-pandemic figures, the average spending per tourist has jumped by 16 percent (from €1,063 in February 2019 to €1,233 in 2023) and the daily per person average by 10.1 percent (from €148 to €163).

The average duration of tourist stays in Spain has also increased slightly, going from 7.19 days pre-pandemic to 7.55 days, which largely explains why the increase in average spending per head grew at a faster rate than the per day figure, when comparing pre and post-pandemic numbers.

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More French tourists than ever

The number of French tourists visiting Spain has overtaken the numbers of Germans, with 636,000 French visitors arriving in January and February while 510,000 Germans came.

Both trailed the Brits, however, and the United Kingdom remains the country that sends the most tourists to Spain. In February alone, almost 785,000 Brits people holidayed in Spain - 35.6 percent more than in 2022.

In terms of spending, the Brits also spent the largest proportion, with 15.8 percent of the total, followed by the Germans, with 11.7 percent, and tourists from Nordic countries, who spent 8.8 percent of the total overall spend.

Tourist traps

The Canary Islands was the preferred destination of the wave of tourists arriving in February, with 28.5 percent of the total arrivals choosing to go there. Over 1.2 million holidaymakers arrived in the Canary Islands, 27.1 percent more than in February 2022. 33.1 percent of these came from the United Kingdom, and 17.1 percent from Germany.

The second most popular destination was Catalonia (21.4 percent) and the third Andalusia (14.2 percent). 

The number of tourists visiting Catalonia grew by 49.3 percent (924,464 total) with 22 percent of them coming from France and the United Kingdom (8.1 percent). 611,588 people visited Andalusia in February, an increase of 43.9 percent.

Travel

The vast majority of travellers flew to Spain, with 3.6 million tourists arriving by plane (an annual increase of 38.4 percent), while 23 percent more came by car and 55.1 percent more by train year on year.

Hotel accommodation increased by 26.2 percent in February, while rental housing increased by 80.2 percent. The number of tourists staying with friends or relatives grew by 45.1 percent.