You are here
Home > News > Spain’s Tourism Increases by 78% This Year Compared to 2020

Spain’s Tourism Increases by 78% This Year Compared to 2020

International tourist arrivals in Spain have returned to pre-pandemic levels with an increase of 78.3 per cent being detected this year and the figure showing that a total of 4.4 million arrivals were registered in July.

According to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), the increase was spotted in arrivals from France, with 874,189 tourists, accounting for 19.9 per cent of all arrivals, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports. Furthermore, 707,331 tourists came from Germany (64.5 per cent more than last year) and 555,183 tourists from the UK, recording a 46.5 per cent increase to 2020.

“The summer has been very good. We have hotels that have even done better than in August 2019,” said Antonio Catalon, President, AC Hotels by Marriott.

Furthermore, INE data reveals that Spanish residents made 14.9 million hotel bookings in July 2020, compared to 14.8 million in 2019. Domestic tourism has also witnessed a slight increase in July with 5.8 million domestic tourists, from 5.7 million in 2019.

However, international tourism spent less money this year in Spain, marking a 60 per cent decrease, which was €11.5 million in July compared to €28.3 million reported in the same period in 2019.

However, although tourist arrivals have surged from the beginning of the year, they have decreased by 25.8 per cent compared to last year. Moreover, the figure shows that international tourist arrivals were almost doubled up compared to 2020, from 2.4 million to 4.3 million in 2021, but have decreased by 5.5 million compared to 2019.

The country witnessed the lowest number of international arrivals in February 2021, with only 284,311, whereas 4.4 million international tourists were registered in July.

The Balearic Islands was the best destination for international tourists, with 1,320,144 arrivals, accounting for 30 per cent of all arrivals, followed by the Catalonia region with 18.5 per cent of all arrivals (814,310) and the Valencian community with 607,214, marking 13.8 per cent of all arrivals.

German arrivals made up for the most tourists registered in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, whereas in Andalusia, arrivals from the Nordic countries made the most visits with 87,166. On the other hand, Madrid was a spot destination for Americans, with 46,459 visiting the city in July.

Moreover, although this number is promising, for the time being, the 2020-2021 period has been the worst season for tourism in Spain, recording the lowest number of arrivals of the last two decades.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics reveal that as of September 3, ten deaths related to Coronavirus were reported in Spain and 3,517 positive cases. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Spain has witnessed 84,472 deaths and 4,861,883 infection cases with the virus.

However, Spain is implementing a robust vaccination rollout, having 88.1 per cent of the population vaccinated with the first shot of the virus, whereas 78.1 per cent of all population is fully vaccinated.

Top