The hotel establishments of the A.C. of the Basque Country registered 154,907 entries by visitors in September 2003, according to Eustat data. These figures represent a 16% rise in relation to the same month the previous year, which is to say 21,000 more visitors. The influx of visitors evolved positively in all three provinces, increasing in Bizkaia (25%), in Gipuzkoa (13%) and in Alava (4%).

The number of visitors from the state grew by 23% in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole and there was also a positive 3% increase in foreign visitors. Numbers of national travellers increased significantly in all three provinces: Alava (19%), Gipuzkoa (22%) and Bizkaia (26%). The presence of foreign visitors was extremely uneven in the provinces: it grew in Bizkaia (23%), remained stable in Gipuzkoa (0.0%) and fell 28% in Alava.

There was an increase in visitors from all Communities of the state, except Cantabria and Rioja, and there was a 16.9% increase in visitors from Madrid and 12.3% from Catalonia. Among foreigners, there was a slight decrease in those from France, the United Kingdom and USA-Canada, and an increase in those from Germany, Italy and Portugal.

The number of overnight stays registered in September 2003 rose to 303,841, a 20% rise compared with September of the previous year, which is to say 50,000 more. The inter-annual evolution of overnight stays was similar in the three provinces, increasing 17% in Alava, 20% in Gipuzkoa and 21% in Bizkaia.

The length of the average stay per visitor grew by 4% in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole, going from 1.89 days in September 2002 to 1.96 days in September this year. The average length of stay improved 13% in Alava and 6% in Gipuzkoa, but decreased 4% in Bizkaia.

The level of occupancy by places improved by10% in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole and occupancy by rooms by 5%.

In the summer months, July-September, there was a 7% rise in the influx of visitors to the A.C. of the Basque Country with respect to the summer of 2002, a growth affecting all three provinces: Bizkaia (13%), Alava (4%) and Gipuzkoa (4%). In the same period overnight stays registered a growth of 8%, 72,000 stays more than in summer 2002. In Bizkaia there was a rise of 9% and in Alava and Gipuzkoa 7%.

Agrotourism: Rise in the entry of visitors (25%) and overnight stays (18%).

In September 8,074 entries by visitors were registered in agrotourism establishments in the A.C. of the Basque Country, 25% more than in the same month of last year, growing 36% in Gipuzkoa, 16% in Bizkaia and 14% in Alava. This growth in the three provinces of the A.C. of the Basque Country was due to visitors both from the state and from abroad.

There were 20,596 overnight stays in agrotourism establishments in the A.C. of the Basque Country, which meant 18% more than in the same month the previous year, with a positive inter-annual growth rate in the provinces of Gipuzkoa (30%) and Bizkaia (9%); however, this was not the case in Alava, where it fell by 2%.

The average stay per visitor experienced a downturn of six per cent in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole, in relation to September 2002, going from 2.70 days a year ago to 2.55 this year, a decrease that affected all three provinces.

The level of occupancy by places registered a 6% rise in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole and the level of occupancy by rooms rose 3%.

In the summer months, July-September, Basque agrotourism establishments registered 2% more entries by visitors than in the previous year and overnight stays increased by 12% in the same period, which amounted to 11,000 more overnight stays.