Spain received 13.7 million in the first quarter of the year foreign touristsIt was 3.5% below the pre-pandemic level, but with 17,201 million euros spent, 11.9% higher than in 2019.
Number of foreign tourists visiting Spain in the first three months of 2023 on an annual basis Represents an increase of 41.2%its total spending is 44.7% higher.
Major exporting countries in the first three months of 2023: United Kingdom (approximately 2.6 million tourists and an annual increase of 46.7%), France (more than 1.7 million and 31.5% increase) and Germany (about 1.7 million tourists, 29.8% more).
The United Kingdom is also the country with the highest accumulated spending through March. (16.6% of the total), then Germany (11.7%) and Scandinavian countries (8.9%), according to the surveys of tourist movements at borders (Frontur) and tourist expenditure (Egatur) published this Thursday . by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In March, 5.3 million tourists came to Spain. 30.1% more than a year agohowever, they spent 5.4% less, 6.657 million euros, 31.1% compared to 2022 and also 10.3% more than 2019 compared to before covid, in total they spent between travel and accommodation.
The average cost per tourist is 1,266 Euros.Representing an annual increase of 0.7%, it grew by an average of 6.6% per day to 168 euros.
This Average travel time for international tourists is 7.6 daysA similar figure to a year ago, with a slight decrease of 0.4 days from March 2022, but higher than 7.1 days before covid.
The number of tourists coming to Spain for business and professional reasons continues to increase with 457,535 in March with an increase of 25% and 1.1 million with an increase of 48.5% until that month.
For Héctor Gómez, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, March data shows 2023. “It’s been an outstanding year for tourism, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, with higher spending and longer stays”.
For the head of tourism, “We are witnessing the consolidation of tourism as one of the main engines of the Spanish economy, which is also reflected in the quality of employment in the sector and the increasingly diverse and innovative destination offerings.”
UK leads by volume, US leads by growth
The UK continues to lead the outbound tourist market, 1.1 million, 29.4% more than March 2022and despite a 11.6% decrease in the average per capita (1,085 euros), it also ranks first in total expenditure.
France and Germany are the most visited countries. 673,584 tourists contribute (10.7% more at an annual rate) and 613,323 (34.1% more) respectively.
Similarly, the annual growth of the United States (74.1% more tourists than in March 2022), the largest growing export market this month, followed by Portugal (up 51.1% from a year ago) and Italy (up by 51.1%). 35 more) stands out. ).
The first two destinations, the Canary Islands and Catalonia
WITH 1.3 million tourists came to the Canary Islands, which was the first stopover point for tourists in March. (24.7% of the total), 15.5% more than a year ago, mostly from the United Kingdom (35.2% of the total) and Germany (18.4%).
Catalonia is the second community in terms of international tourist arrivals in March, with more than one million (19.5% of the total), 44.9% more, followed by Andalusia with 803,139 and 31.7% year-on-year increase.
Communities receiving the most tourists in the cumulative quarter Canary Islands (more than 3.7 million, 30.9% more than a year ago), Catalonia (almost 2.8 million, 53.4% more) and Andalusia (almost 2 million, 46.2% more).
In the rest, 34.8% year-on-year increase in the number of tourists stood out in the Community of Valencia, while the growth was 32.8% in the Community of Madrid and 17.5% in the Balearic Islands.