Canary Islands drew 1,373,879 international visitors in December, showing a 12.65% rise. In the same period, expenditure climbed 24.98% year over year, reaching 2,095.9 million euros, according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) .
This marks the strongest December for international arrivals in the Canary Islands within the historical series, and it also represents the highest level of spending for the month to date .
On average, each visitor to the community spent 169 euros per day in December, a 0.37% increase from the previous December, and stayed an average of 9.03 days. Overall expenditure per person reached 1,526 euros, up 10.95% versus December last year .
For the year through December, 13,942,965 tourists visited the Canary Islands, a rise of 13.1%, with total tourism expenditure around 20,333.57 million euros, up 16.51% .
The community confirms that the Canary Islands were the most visited region in Spain, accounting for 26.38% of all international arrivals to the country, followed by Catalonia at 19.61% and Comunitat Valenciana at 13.71% .
NEW RECORD IN SPAIN
Spain closed the year with a fresh tourism milestone, with 85.1 million visitors in 2023, an 18.7% increase from 2022. When compared with 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, arrivals were 1.9% higher overall .
Looking ahead, the United Kingdom and France are expected to remain leading source markets in 2023, while Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Canary Islands are positioned to benefit the most from Spain’s buoyant tourism climate .
Border movement statistics (Frontur), released by INE, reveal that the top nations of origin for visitors to Spain in 2023 were the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. UK residents accounted for 14.6% of arrivals, French visitors rose 17% and German visitors grew by 10.6% .
Within its autonomous communities, Catalonia received the largest share of tourists in 2023, followed by the Balearic and Canary Islands. Catalonia saw about 18 million visitors, up 21.2% from 2022, the Balearic Islands about 14.4 million, up 9.1%, and the Canary Islands around 13.9 million, up 13.1% .