Spain was visited by 13.7 million international tourists in the first three months of the year, 41.2% more than in the same period in 2022. In the three months as a whole, the total spending by these tourists was 17.201 billion euros, an increase of 44.7% compared to the same quarter last year, according to data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In March, 5.3 million visitors arrived in Spain (an increase of 30% compared to March 2022), who spent a total of 6.657 billion euros, 31.1% more than a year ago.
The Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, said that this data is proof that “2023 is being an extraordinary year for tourism, not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, with higher spending and longer stays”. The Minister for Tourism said “we are witnessing the consolidation of tourism as one of the main drivers of the Spanish economy, which is also reflected in the quality of employment in the sector and in an increasingly varied and innovative range of destinations”.
INCREASED DAILY SPENDING
The average spending per tourist in March was 1,266 euros, an annual increase of 0.7%. Meanwhile, the average daily spending grew by 6.6% to 168 euros.
In terms of length of stay, the average length for international tourists was 7.6 days, similar to a year ago.
THE UNITED STATES, THE FASTEST GROWING
By country, the United Kingdom, which continues to lead the outbound tourist market, with 1.1 million visitors, experienced strong growth in March (29.4%) compared to the same month in 2022.
France and Germany are the countries that come next in terms of visitors numbers. Germany contributed 673,584 tourists (an annual increase of 10.7%) and France 613,323 (an increase of 34.1% compared to a year ago).
Among the other countries of residence, it is worth highlighting the annual growth of tourists from the United States (74.1% more than in March 2022), which is the country with the highest growth this month, Portugal (51.1% more than a year ago) and Italy (35.0% more).
THE CANARY ISLANDS AND CATALONIA, LEADING DESTINATIONS
The Canary Islands, the top main destination for tourists in March, with 24.7% of the total number of tourists, were visited by 1.3 million tourists, 15.5% more than a year ago. The main countries of residence for tourists who visited the Canary Islands are the UK (with 35.2% of the total) and Germany (18.4%).
After the Canary Islands, Catalonia, with 19.5%, is the second community in terms of the number of international tourists who visited in March (more than a million visitors), and like the Canary Islands, it has also experienced strong growth compared to a year ago. Compared to the same month in 2022, 44.9% more tourists arrived in Catalonia in March. In terms of country of origin, 19.5% of visitors came from France and 9.8% from Italy.
The third main destination community according to the number of tourists who visited is Andalusia, with 803,139 visitors in March and an annual increase of 31.7%. The UK was the main country of origin (with 26.6% of the total), followed by the Nordic countries (10.1%).
In the quarter, the communities that received the most tourists were 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 million, an increase of 46.2%).
In the other Autonomous 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, 17.5%.
