The Valencian region, encompassing the Costa Blanca and inland areas, welcomed a total of 3,037,689 international tourists from January to April, 22% more than last year, and in the context of higher prices for everything from hotels to food, with a total expenditure of 3,7 billion euro, 17.75% more than in 2023, according to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics.
In the month of April, 1,007,531 foreign tourists visited the Valencian Community, 16.2% more than in the same month last year. Its tourist spending has reached 1,1 billion euro, 17.75% more.
With these data, the Valencian Community was the fifth most visited in April and the fourth most visited throughout the year.
From January to April, the average expenditure per international tourist was 1,219 euro, which represents an interannual increase of 1.3%. Daily spending per person was 127 euro (0.07% more) and the average duration of trips reached 9.62 days, with an increase of 1.23%.
It is perhaps worth noting that in 2024, according to Orden PRE/1282/2007 and RD 145/2024, the minimum amount required to enter Spain is the ability to spend 113.4 euro per person per day.
Spain is heading into a new record tourist season, approaching 24 million international tourists until April, which represents a figure 14.5% above that registered a year before, according to data made public by the National Institute of Statistics. (INE) which estimates the spending of these tourists in our country at more than 31.5 billion.
The United Kingdom continues to be the main source market with more than 4.4 million tourists accumulated in the first four months of the year. They are followed by Germany with 3.18 million and France with 3.14 million. Particularly noteworthy is the growth of the Belgian market, almost 25%, and the United States, almost 15% so far this year.
For the Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu “the results of the first four months of 2024, the best in the historical series since we have official records, speak of tourism that revolves around quality as a differentiating aspect, with spending on destination that continues to grow and that symbolises the permanent idyll of international tourists with a range of innovative offers that aspire to make values such as sustainability and digitalization a reality.
In the accumulated of the first four months of the year, the communities that received the most tourists were the Canary Islands (5.5 million and an increase of 11.4% compared to the same period in 2023), Catalonia (5 million and an increase of 16.3 %) and Andalusia (3.6 million, 13.5% more).
For all these reasons, these communities are the ones that have accumulated the most tourist spending so far this year: the Canary Islands (8,1 billion euro), Catalonia (5,5 billion) and Andalusia (4,8 billion), according to the Spanish Statistical Institute.
In April, Spain received a total of 7.8 million international tourists, 8.3% more than in the same month last year. The United Kingdom was the main country of residence for visitors to Spain, with almost 1.5 million tourists and an increase of 8.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. Nearly 1.2 million arrived from France (10.8% more) and 1.1 million from Germany (12.6% more).
Data from the INE tourist spending survey show how the average spending per tourist in our country stood at 1,221 euro, with an annual increase of 4.4%. For its part, average daily spending grew by 5.4%, to 183 euro.
