FRONTUR and EGATUR figures published by National Statistics Institute

Spending by inbound tourists up 2.8% to November and number of arrivals by 0.7%

News - 2019.1.3

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Spain was visited by 4.5 million tourists in November, an increase of 3.6%, with total spending of 4.89 billion euros, a 5.3% rise. The average daily spend in November rose by 12.4% to 155 euros.

The State Secretary for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, believes these data are positive because, "although we don't have the December figures yet, everything suggests we will close 2018 with a similar number of arrivals but with a significantly higher spending figure, which we are glad to see. Our goal for this coming year will be to maintain that profitability growth trend and that consolidation of tourism flows".

Inbound tourists

In the first 11 months of 2018, the main emitting markets were the United Kingdom (with more than 17.6 million inbound tourists), Germany (with almost 10.9 million) and France (with almost 10.8 million). Significant increases were posted by the United States (up 10.9%), Portugal (up 10.2%) and Russia (up 5.8%).

Again, Catalonia was the most popular region with more than 18.1 million inbound tourists, followed by the Balearic Islands with almost 13.7 million and the Canary Islands with almost 12.5 million. As has been seen in recent months, the Region of Madrid is also enjoying significant growth, with more than 6.5 million inbound tourists, up 6% on the same period of 2017.

Increased spending

To November, the autonomous regions with the highest total spending figures were Catalonia (19.53 billion euros, up 6.5% on the same period of 2017), the Canary Islands (15.49 billion euros, up 1.6%) and the Balearic Islands (14.64 billion euros, up 1.1%). It is also worth noting the spending increase in Andalusia (up 6.5% to more than 12 billion euros).

In terms of emitting markets, the United Kingdom posted the highest accumulated spending figure in the first 11 months of 2018 with 17.13 billion euros (up 2.8%). This was followed by Germany with 11.43 billion euros (down 2.4%) and France with 7.04 billion euros (up 4.8%).

Non official translation