Catalonia: 14.8 million foreign tourists visits between January and November

In the first eleven months of 2013, Catalonia has been the favourite destination in Spain for international visitors.

In the first eleven months of 2013, Catalonia has been the favourite destination in Spain for international visitors. Indeed, 14,838,018 foreign tourists have travelled to Catalonia during this period, meaning 25.8 % of the total number of international visitors in Spain.

This represents an increase of 7.4% over the same period in 2012. In November, Catalonia has welcomed 836,654 foreign tourists and has only been surpassed by the Canary Islands (1,073,759). Stays in hotels have also registered an upward trend: they have increased by 8.6% at Spanish level this month and by 4.1% in Catalonia, with about 80,100 more overnight stays. The number of hotel nightly stays in Catalonia in November (among foreign visitor) increased from 1,946,915 in 2012 to 2,027,038 in 2013. The majority of these foreign tourists came from France, the UK, and Germany while the number of visitors from Russia and Belgium has also increased significantly. In the eyes of Spanish tourists, Catalonia was the fourth preferred destination, behind Andalusia, Madrid and Valencia (also called Valencian Country).

According to the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE), Spanish hotels registered 15 million overnight stays in November, meaning 8.6% more than in the same month last year. Stays have increased by 12.7 % for Spanish-residents and by 5.9% for foreigners. The average stay by visitor was 3 nights in November, amounting to a 1.5 % increase. In fact, during the first eleven months of the year, overnight stays increased by 1.6% in Spain compared with the same period last year.

Regarding hotel occupancy at Spanish level, the month of November has registered an average of 44.4 % during the week with the figures rising to 50.8 % during weekends. The Autonomous Communities with the highest hotel occupancy rates in November were the Canary Islands (75.7 %), Ceuta (47.2 %) and Madrid (46.5 %). Catalonia is in eighth position with an occupancy rate of 40.3 %, due to the usual tourist drop in the Costa Brava (North-East) and Costa Daurada (South-East). However, Barcelona has strengthened its position in the leading tourist areas and has become a serious competitor for the south of Tenerife and Madrid during November.

British, French, and German tourists among the top rankings

Spain welcomed 3.3 million international visitors in November (with the Canary Islands and Catalonia leading statistics), a 9.3 % increase compared with November 2012. Visitors from the UK, Germany and France are still leading the rankings for the first eleventh month of the year. However, the latest figures also highlight the considerable increase in visitors from Russia (55.7 %) and Belgium (17.9 %). The yearly figures reveal similar trends with a majority of British, German and French visitors, who are followed by tourists from the Nordic countries (4.5 million visitors and an increase of 17.4 %). The only decreases registered were for Italian, Portuguese, and American tourists.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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