Tourist numbers and spending increase

Tourist spending is up, despite the crisis

According to new figures released by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, over 6 million visitors arrived in Spain in June 2012, an increase of 2.2% over the same period last year.

The total expenditure by tourists also increased to a total of 5.833 million euros, up 8.7% from June 2011.

For the first half of the year, from January to June 2012, the total number of tourists visiting Spain increased to 25,150,430, a 4.7% increase over the same period in 2011.

In the first half of the year, non-residents accumulated a total expenditure of 23.644 million euros, a growth of 5.6%. The average expenditure also showed an increase of 2.5% per tourist, and an increase of 9.4% to the daily average spend.

UK tourist spending showed a growth of 17.9%, which amounts to 200 million euros expenditure. This increase, far higher than the national increase (8.7%), was also due to increased average spending per visitor (9.2%). The Balearic Islands were the destination of choice for UK tourists.

The number of German tourists recorded a second consecutive month of growth with a 5% increase. The Canary Islands captured the bulk of the German influx with an increase of over 60%. The average daily spending fell for the second straight month by -2.6%.

In Andalucía, tourist spending volume increased by 1% despite a decline in the number of tourists of -4.6%. This was due to an increase of 5.5% in the average spending per person. This represents the first increase in this area following five months of falls.

The total expenditure of tourists who opted for non-hotel accommodation increased by 12.2%, a greater increase than for hotel accommodation which increased by 7%.

Package-holiday tourists showed strong growth with an increase of 14.3%. The number of non-package travellers held constant but their total spending showed an increase of 5.9%, due to the increase in average spending per person of 6.6%. The majority of the increase in spending can be attributed to trips made for leisure.

You can read the complete report here (in Spanish): Tourists Expenditure – June 2012