Press Release 20/08/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Hotels. JULY 2021

In July, the number of overnight stays at hotels in the Basque Country was 67.0% higher than the previous year

The percentage of hotel establishments without business fell to 10.3% in July 2021

In July 2021, the number of visitors and overnight stays recorded at hotel establishments in the Basque Country rose to 292,165 and 568,447, respectively, according to Eustat data. Visitor numbers had therefore recovered by 62.5% and overnight stays by 67.0% since July 2020.

Compared to the previous month, June 2021, the number of visitors rose by 69.8% and overnight stays by 83.6%. The hotel sector’s path to recovery as observed in recent months in the Basque Country thus continued.

In Álava, there were 43,283 visitors and 76,043 overnight stays in July, 94.2% and 88.8% more than in the same month of the previous year. In Bizkaia, visitor numbers increased by 89.7% and overnight stays were up 86.6% in July 2021, reaching a total of 123,356 and 237,397, respectively. Lastly, in Gipuzkoa, visitor numbers and overnight stays stood at 125,526 and 255,007 in July 2021, following a year-on-year rise of 35.7% in visitor numbers and of 47.5% in overnight stays. To understand the growth rates in Gipuzkoa, it should be particularly borne in mind that it was the province that had the highest figures in July 2020.

In July 2021, visitors from abroad accounted for 33.0% of all visitors, hence the proportion of visitors from the rest of Spain was 67.0%. Likewise, in the case of overnight stays, people residing abroad accounted for 31.0% and people from the rest of Spain accounted for 69.0%. Both the number of visitors and overnight stays of people from abroad increased by 59.8% and 69.4%, respectively, compared to the same month of the previous year.

Differences were observed between the Provinces. In Álava, the number of visitors and overnight stays of people from abroad increased in year-on-year terms by 101.0% and 101.7%, respectively. The number of visitors from abroad rose by 129.2% and the number of overnight stays of people from abroad was up 136.1% in Bizkaia. Lastly, the increases compared to July 2020 in Gipuzkoa were less pronounced, at 22.7% in the number of visitors from abroad and 34.1% in the number of overnight stays of people from abroad.

A total of 66 hotel establishments remained closed every day in July 2021 (10 in Álava, 26 in Bizkaia and 30 in Gipuzkoa), a lower figure than that observed in the previous month (June 2021) and the same month of the previous year (July 2020), when the number of establishments without any activity was 91 and 109, respectively.

The average length of stay at hotel establishments in the Basque Country during July stood at 1.95 days. It was 1.89 days in July 2020. The average length of stay of people from the rest of Spain was higher, standing at 2.00 days in July 2021, although in the year-on-year comparison it grew more than the average length of stay of people from abroad, which went from 1.72 days in July 2020 to 1.83 this July.

The bed and room occupancy rates of hotel establishments with business in July 2021 were both higher than that observed in the same month of the previous year. There was a 15.5 percentage point rise in the case of the bed occupancy rate and a 15.2 point increase in the room occupancy rate.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 51.8% in Bizkaia, 54.6% in Álava and 65.4% in Gipuzkoa. Similarly, the room occupancy rate was up 57.9% in Bizkaia, 62.8% in Álava and 70.4% in Gipuzkoa.

The provincial capital with the largest bed occupancy rate in July was San Sebastián (69.2%), followed by Vitoria-Gasteiz (53.9%) and Bilbao (53.7%). The room occupancy rate was also higher in San Sebastián (72.0%) than in Vitoria-Gasteiz (64.0%) and Bilbao (58.5%).

Profitability indicators of the sector maintained an upward trend. The average daily rate (ADR) stood at 104.79 euros in July, up 22.0% on July of the previous year. All provinces saw an increase in the ADR, standing at 131.32 euros in Gipuzkoa (161.87 euros in San Sebastián), 85.50 euros in Álava (72.23 euros in Vitoria-Gasteiz) and 83.49 euros in Bizkaia (85.99 euros in Bilbao).

The higher occupancy rate led to a year-on-year rise in the revenue per available room (RevPAR) of 60.5%, going from 41.48 euros in July 2020 to 66.56 euros in July 2021 for the Basque Country as a whole.

Compared to the previous month, June 2021, the ADR increased by 21.2% and the RevPAR rose by 78.6%.

The variation in the percentage of hotel establishments closed every day of the month shows that the impact on the hotel sector of the restrictions adopted to tackle COVID-19 is gradually lessening. In July 2021, 10.3% of hotel establishments in the Basque Country remained closed every day of the month, compared to 17.6% in July 2020. In June 2021, this percentage was 14.3%.

By province, the percentage of hotel establishments that remained closed for the entire month of July 2021 was 13.3% in Álava, 10.5% in Bizkaia and 9.4% in Gipuzkoa.

Note. The coverage of the ETR for Hotels in July was 86.3%. Eustat would like to thank all establishments that participated in this survey for their effort.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel.: 945 01 75 62