Spain welcomes rise in tourism spending

More tourists are visiting Spain and spending more money there than ever before, new figures show.

International visitors spent 9.342 million euros in Spain during September – a record level for the month and 12.3 per cent more than they spent in the same month of 2016.

Unsurprisingly, the increase in spending comes at a time when visitor figures to Spain are also rising at record levels. The number of people visiting Spain from abroad during September was 8.84 million, the highest figure ever reported for September.

Brits make up the largest source of Spain’s international arrivals, with nearly a quarter of all tourists hailing from the UK. However, Brits are not the biggest spenders. Their spending accounts for nearly a fifth of the overall total, which places UK spending ahead of the Italian and French visitors, but below that of those from Germany and Scandinavia.

One reason why British spending is below that of other nations could be down to the fact that while more Brits may be visiting Spain, they are not staying in the country for as long. In fact, the average length of stay for UK nationals was just 7.2 days – 10 per cent lower than it was in September 2016.

The popular tourist resorts in Catalunya and the Balearic Islands unsurprisingly benefitted most from the increased tourist spending, accounting for 23 per cent and 22 per cent of all spending, respectively. Yet the number of people visiting Catalunya grew at a slower rate than it did in many other parts of the country – an outcome that can almost certainly be attributed to the terrorist attacks in the region in late August.

The region of Andalucía recorded the largest increase in visitors in September 2017 compared to the same month in 2016, with international arrivals increasing by 19.5 per cent.

Article published 6th November 2017