Hotel establishments of the A.C. of the Basque Country registered 110,370 visitors in February 2004, almost 19,000 visits more than in the same month last year, making a 20% increase, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors increased in all three provinces: the highest inter-annual growth rate was in Gipuzkoa (29%), with Bizkaia in an intermediate position (21%), while growth in Álava was much more modest (4%).

The number of visitors from the state grew by 17%, while visitors from abroad increased their numbers by 34%. Visitors from the state increased their presence in Gipuzkoa (29%) and Bizkaia (15%) but their numbers remained unchanged in Alava (0%). The important growth in the number of foreign visitors was more evenly spread across the three provinces: in Bizkaia the figure rose 41% and in Alava and Gipuzkoa the rise was 28% in both cases.

Among visitors from the state there was a rise in those coming from almost all the Autonomous Communities, but especially from Madrid, Catalonia, Castile and León, Andalusia, the A.C. of the Basque Country itself and Navarre. As for foreigners there was a rise in those coming mainly from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Italy and South America.

The number of overnight stays registered in February 2004 came to 197,537, making a 22% increase in relation to February of last year, which is to say 26,000 more overnight stays. The inter-annual evolution of overnight stays was positive in all three provinces, increasing sharply in Gipuzkoa (35%) and with more modest growth of 18% and 7% in Bizkaia and Alava respectively.

The average length of stay for the whole of the A.C. of the Basque Country went from 1.76 days last year to 1.79 this February, due to the increase for this figure in Gipuzkoa (5%) and Alava (4%), given that in Bizkaia it fell by 2% in relation to the same month last year.

The degree of occupancy by places underwent an 11% improvement, going from 33.30% last February to 36.98% this February. This figure improved significantly in Gipuzkoa (24%) while in Alava and Bizkaia there was a much more modest increase of 3% in both cases.

Agrotourism: Rise in the number of visitors (15%) and overnight stays (31%)

In February 5,283 visitors registered in the agrotourism establishments of the A.C. of the Basque Country, 15% more than in the same month last year, growing 29% in Alava and 28% in Gipuzkoa, although not so in Bizkaia, where there was a reduction of 11%. Growth in numbers of visitors from the state was 13% in the A.C. of the Basque Country: Alava (31%), Gipuzkoa (24%) and Bizkaia (-11%). Foreigners increased their presence by 45% in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole, rising 121% in Gipuzkoa and falling in Alava (-29%) and Bizkaia (-9%).

There were 11,556 overnight stays in the agrotourism establishments of the A.C. of the Basque Country in February, making a 31% increase in relation to the same month last year, with highly positive inter-annual growth rates in Alava (75%) and Gipuzkoa (40%), much a more modest one in Bizkaia (4%).

The average stay per visitor showed an improvement of fifteen per cent in the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole compared to February 2003, going from 1.91 days a year ago to 2.19 this February, a positive evolution that was shared by all three provinces of the community.

The degree of occupancy by places registered an important increase of 17%, as a result of the growth in Alava (46%) and Gipuzkoa (29%), given that, for this index, Bizkaia had a negative effect (-7%).

Table 1: Monthly results

Source: EUSTAT