Increase in International Tourists

Spain: 64.4% Increase in International Tourists Figures Last Year

A total of 31.1 million internationals have visited Spain during 2021, marking a 64.4 per cent increase compared to 2020 figures, during which year Spain welcomed 18.9 million visitors. Such figures have been published by the National Statistics Institute (INE)

In addition, the report shows that total spending by non-resident tourists in Spain during 2021 was 34.82 billion euros, marking an increase of seven per cent compared to the previous year figures.

“December’s activity was better than expected, and this allowed us to meet our year-end forecasts, which are very good if we take into account the uncertainty generated by Omicron, which has not had the expected negative impact,” the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, pointed out in this regard.

Like many European countries, Spain’s tourism industry has also been profoundly affected by the spread of the Coronavirus and its new strains.

However, previously, Spain’s government stressed that the tourism sector was making significant progress. After the increase in the number of arrivals registered last year, the country’s authorities stressed that the tourism sector might return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

In this regard, Minister Maroto stressed that “the recovery of the sector will be consolidated in 2022, and Spain will take advantage of its strengths compared to other competing destinations.”

According to the figures provided by INE, a total of 2.9 million international tourists visited Spain in December 2021, which is a 354.5 per cent increase compared to the same month 2020 figures.

Tourists from the following countries visited the most Spain in December 2021:

France- 532,218 tourists (18 per cent of the total and an increase of 224.8 per cent compared to December 2020 figures)
The United Kingdom – 415,585 (280.0 per cent increase compared to December 2020)
Germany- 405,064 tourists (389.7 per cent increase)

According to the report, the Canary Islands is the first main destination for tourists in December, accounting for 30.6 per cent of the total, followed by Catalonia (18.9 per cent) and Valencia (13.0 per cent).

As for tourism spending by international visitors in Spain, in December 2021, it reached 3.54 billion euros, marking an increase of 408.4 per cent compared to figures of the same period one year earlier.

“The average spending per tourist stands at 1,201 euros, with an annual increase of 11.8 per cent. On the other hand, the average daily spending grew by 14.5 per cent to 126 euros,” the statement reads.

According to INE, the autonomous communities with significant weight in tourist spending in December were as follows:

The Canary Islands (35.1 per cent)
Catalonia (15.5 per cent)
Community of Madrid (12.6 per cent)
Based on the figures published previously by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), due to the Coronavirus, nearly 202,000 people working in Spain’s travel and tourism industry lost their jobs, marking a 19.5 per cent decrease in the employment sector.

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