Tourist spending increased 13.3% in May
Total spending by international tourists visiting Spain in May reached a staggering 7,841 million euros. The figure represents an increase of 13.3% over the same month of 2016, according to data released by the INE.
Spain received almost 8 million tourists in May.
The average expenditure per tourist was 987 euros, an annual increase of 1.5%. Meanwhile, average daily spend per tourist grew by 3.2%, to reach 146 euros.
However, there was a slight decrease in the average duration of visit. The average in May was 6.8 days, a fall of 0.1 days, when compared to May 2016.
Country of Origin
We see the usual suspects when looking at the main issuing countries in terms of spending levels. The United Kingdom are top (with 22.7% of the total spend), followed by Germany (14.1%), and France (8%).
The spending levels of tourists from the UK increased by 18.9% on the annual rate. German tourists increased their spending by 0.2%, while those from France spent 3% more than last year.
Primary Destination
The autonomous communities which attracted the most tourist spend were Catalonia (with 22.9% of the total), the Balearic Islands (20.6%) and Andalusia (15.1%).
The spending of tourists in Catalonia increased by 17.5% on the annual rate. In the Balearic Islands the increase was 10.9%, while those visiting Andalusia increased their spending by 6.5%.
Jan to May
During the first five months of this year, the total expenditure of international tourists increased by 14.7% when compared to the same period last year, to reach 28,235 million euros.
The autonomous communities with the highest accumulated tourist spending over the first five months of 2017 were the Canary Islands (with 24.1% of the total), Catalonia (21.5%) and Andalusia (15.2%).
The UK is the country with the highest accumulated expenditure so far this year accounting for 19.9% of the total. Germany are next with 14%, followed by the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – with 9.5%.
