A total of 8.8 million international tourists visited Spain in August of this year, which is quite a higher number than in 2019 when only 87 per cent of the current figures visited Spain in the same month. Such data show that travellers spent €11,258 million on their travel and stay, which represents 96 per cent of the August 2019 figures, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports
“The expectations we had of recovering nine out of ten international tourists from the pre-pandemic in the central months of the summer, during July and August, have been fulfilled. Spain has experienced an extraordinary tourist high season, and we are facing autumn without inflation, and the uncertainty caused by the war is weighing down this tourist revival for the moment,” the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, pointed out in this regard.
The Minister also estimated that an example of this is the recovery of 93 per cent of the seats planned by the airlines to fly to Spain during October.
Taking into account the data for the first eight months of the year, the arrival of international tourists in Spain exceeds 48 million or 83 per cent of the same period before the pandemic, while the expenses reach €63,898 million or 92 per cent of the same period of 2019.
According to the data, during August, the average spending per person was €1,276, or €119 more than in August 2019, and the average stay was 7.9 days, similar to August 2019.
In addition, the United Kingdom with 1.8 million tourists was among the main markets of origin, followed by France with 1.6 million and Germany with 1.1 million. While in other places of residence, it should be noted that the annual increase of tourists coming from Ireland reached 106.7 per cent, Italy 106.4 per cent, and the United States 96.8 per cent.
97 per cent of those arriving in August 2019, mainly from Germany and the United Kingdom.
Moreover, the third main destination community in terms of the number of tourists is Andalucia, which registered almost 1.3 million or 92 per cent in August 2019, with the United Kingdom and France as the first markets of origin.
Looking at the data for the first eight months of this year, it turns out that the communities that receive the most tourists are Catalonia with almost 9.9 million, Illes Balears with 9.6 million, and Canarias with more than 7.8 million.