Spain received 13.7 million international tourists in the first three months

USPA NEWS - Spain received in the first three months of this year the visit of 13.7 million international tourists, 41.2% more than in the same period of 2022. In the accumulated three months, the total expenditure of these tourists was of 17,201 million euros, which represents an increase of 44.7 compared to the same period of last year, according to data published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In the month of March, 5.3 million visitors arrived in Spain, with an increase of 30% compared to March 2022, who spent a total of 6,657 million euros, between travel and stay, 31.1% more than before one year.

The Spanish Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, valued these data as proof that "2023 is proving to be an extraordinary year for tourism, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, with higher spending and longer stays." For the head of Tourism, "we are witnessing the consolidation of tourism as one of the main engines of the Spanish economy, which is also reflected in the quality of employment in the sector and in an increasingly varied and innovative offer of destinations."

The average expenditure per tourist this month of March stood at 1,266 euros, with an annual increase of 0.7%. For its part, average daily spending grew by 6.6%, to 168 euros. Regarding the stay, the average duration of trips by international tourists was 7.6 days, a figure similar to that of a year ago.

US, the one that grows the most

By country, the United Kingdom, which continues to lead the outbound tourist market, with 1.1 million visiting tourists, experienced significant growth in March (29.4%) compared to the same month in 2022. France and Germany are the following countries in volume of visits. Germany contributed 673,584 tourists (10.7% more in annual rate) and France 613,323 (an increase of 34.1% compared to a year ago).

Among the rest of the countries of residence, it is worth noting the annual growth of tourists from the United States (74.1% more than in March 2022), which is the country that grows the most this month; Portugal (51.1% more than a year ago) and Italy (35.0% more).

The Canary Islands, the first main destination for tourists in March -with 24.7% of the total- received 1.3 million tourists, 15.5% more than a year ago. The main countries of residence of the tourists that this community receives are the United Kingdom (with 35.2% of the total) and Germany (18.4%). After the Canary Islands, Catalonia -with 19.5%- is the second Spanish region in number of international tourists received in March (more than a million visitors) and, like the Canary Islands, it has also experienced strong growth compared to a year ago. 44.9% more tourists arrived in Catalonia in March than in the same month of 2022. Regarding the country of origin, 19.5% of visitors came from France and 9.8% from Italy.

The third main destination Spanish region by number of tourists is Andalusia, with 803,139 visitors in March and an annual increase of 31.7%. The United Kingdom is the main country of origin (with 26.6% of the total), followed by the Nordic countries (10.1%).

In the accumulated figures for the first three months of the year, the communities that receive the most tourists are the Canary Islands (with more than 3.7 million and an increase of 30.9% compared to the same period in 2022), Catalonia (with almost 2.8 million and an increase of 53.4%) and Andalusia (with almost 2.0 million, 46.2% more). In the rest of the Communities, the increase of 34.8% in annual terms in the number of tourists in the Valencian Community stands out; for its part, in the Community of Madrid the growth is 32.8% and in the Balearic Islands it is 17.5%.