The arrival of foreign visitors is still lower than before the pandemic, although their spending is up by 15%
Spain received a total of 71.6 million tourists last year, which is more than double the number of the previous year (129% more) strongly affected by the pandemic, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics ( INE). made public this Thursday and estimated the expenditure of these tourists at 87.061 million, with a particularly notable increase in average daily expenses that rose by 15.3% to reach 145 euros.
The data on tourist movements at the borders (Frontur) made public by the Spanish Bureau of Statistics shows that these figures, which are almost 72 million tourists registered in Spain last year, are still 14.3% below the tourism record year 2019. than 83.7 million tourists entered our country.
For the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, these data confirm the intense recovery of the tourism sector in 2022. It is that expenditures grow more and also the average stay and this means an improvement in the quality and profitability of our sector “, he said.
As Maroto explained, this data shows the strength of the sector in complex contexts and the effectiveness of the measures taken by the government. “According to our forecasts, the tourism recovery will be complete by 2023, once again reaching record numbers in tourists and spending,” said the tourism minister.
The main countries of residence of the tourists who visited Spain last year were the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The arrival of tourists living in the United Kingdom increased by 251.3%, that of those from France by 73.3% and that of those arriving from Germany by 87.4%.
According to communities, Catalonia was the leading autonomous community of main destination in 2022, with 20.7% of all tourists. Behind them were Illes Balears (with 18.5%) and Canarias (17.2%).
In terms of expenditure, data from the Tourism Expenditure Survey (Egatur), prepared by the INE, shows that the total expenditure of non-resident tourists in Spain last year amounted to EUR 87,061 million, representing an increase of 149.4% compared to compared to 2021. If this figure is compared to 2019, total spending is 5.3% lower.
The average spending per tourist amounted to 1,217 euros, an increase of 8.7% compared to 2021. The average daily spending, on the other hand, increased by 17.8% to 162 euros.
The average duration of international tourist travel was 7.5 days, which represented a reduction of 0.7 days compared to the 2021 average, according to the INE.
The autonomous communities with the highest total expenditure in 2022 were the Canary Islands (with 17,452 million, 142.8% more than in 2021), Catalonia (with 16,461 million and an increase of 198%) and the Balearic Islands (with 15,220 million, a 109.1% more than in 2021)
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.
