INE data shows national tourists returning to holiday abroad after previous years’ restrictions, although still a long way from 2019 data
Spaniards have traveled extensively this summer, both in Spain and abroad, where travel has resumed after two years of a pandemic with severe restrictions. But despite the tourism ‘boom’ this year, the number of trips is still more than 4 million away from the summer of 2019. Specifically, the number of trips by Spaniards in the third quarter (from July to September) stood at 58.8 million, while it exceeded 61.1 million in the pre-pandemic summer, according to data published this Thursday by the INE.
However, the high inflation that also affects the tourism sector has meant that despite less travel, more has been spent. For example, Spanish tourists spent 21,026 million euros in the three summer months, which is an increase of almost 26% compared to last year, but even 8.3% more than in 2019, before the pandemic, when tourists left 19,297 million.
Destinations within the national territory are still preferred by the vast majority of Spaniards, at 89% of the total, but this percentage is 6% lower than last year, when the pandemic still made many fearful of leaving the country. This summer, foreign travel increased by 91% to almost 11% of the total.
These figures are still far from pre-pandemic records, when Spaniards traveled abroad more, with 7.2 million trips. In terms of spending outside our borders, according to the INE, it increased by 146% this summer to add €6.2 million, close to the €6.5 million spent abroad in summer 2019 due to the high inflation.
The average daily expenditure was 49 euros for domestic travel and 93 euros for international travel. In 2019, these figures were different: with 41 euros per day in national tourism and 97 euros abroad.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
