Inbound tourists visiting Spain spent a total of 5.83 billion euros in June, up 8.7% on June 2011. This increase was caused by a rise in both the number of tourists (up 4.7%) and in average spending per tourist (up 3.8%). The average length of stay remained the same and average daily spending increased by 3.8%.
Emitting markets
Spending by British tourists rose by 17.9% in June, or 200 million euros. This increase, far in excess of the increase in the number of tourists (up 8%), was also the result of increased average spending per tourist in June (up 9.2%). The Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands were the two leading destinations for this increased spending.
Germany posted growth of 5% in June, which is in line with the increase in the number of German tourists coming to Spain. The Balearic Islands was the region accounting for the largest volume of German spending (approximately 50%), while the Canary Islands posted growth of over 60% in spending by German tourists. The average daily spend by German tourists fell by 2.6% in June, although the accumulated figure for the first half of the year rose by 6%.
In spite of the stability in terms of the number of tourists (-0.1%), spending by French tourists fell by 14% in June and by 7.3% in the first six months of the year. Catalonia is the region accounting for the largest volume of French tourism expenditure and was also the region most affected by the decline.
From the figures posted by the rest of the world, it is worth noting that the increase in tourism expenditure by US and Russian tourists accounts for approximately half of total growth in spending.
Main destination autonomous regions
The Balearic Islands and Catalonia accounted for the largest volumes of spending by inbound tourists in June 2012, with 1.48 billion euros (up 7.1%) and 1.41 billion euros (up 14.7%), respectively. In accumulated terms, Catalonia is the top destination autonomous region with growth of 14.3% to a figure of 5.35 billion euros. The Canary Islands, with growth of 2.8% to 5.06 billion euros, is in second place.
Tourism expenditure on these islands in June grew by 14.1% to 660 million euros. Average daily spending by tourists in the Canary Islands rose by 11.1% in June and by 11.5% overall for the first six months of the year.
Growth in total spending was consolidated in the Region of Madrid, with a rate of growth in June of 15% to 536 million euros. Overall for the first half of the year, spending rose by 16.9% to 2.56 billion euros.
Spending by inbound tourists in the Region of Valencia increased by 8.1% in June to 515 million euros. Spending amounted to 1.97 billion euros in the first six months of the year, with growth of 6.6% in average spending per tourist and 11.6% in average daily spending.
Type of accommodation, type of holiday and reason for travel
Total spending by those tourists who chose non-hotel accommodation grew by 12.2% in June, while spending by those who opted for hotel accommodation grew by 7%. There was strong growth in spending by tourists travelling on a package holiday (14.3%), which is in line with the increased number of tourists.
The number of independent travellers remained stable. However, total spending by these tourists rose by 5.9% due to a 6.6% increase in average spending per person. The majority of this spending increase was associated with trips made for leisure reasons.