Press Release 21/11/2013
Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 0.5% in October
The number of overnight stays registered a decrease of 2.8% in comparison with the same month of the previous year
There were 211,156 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in October 2013, 990 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 0.5%, according to data prepared by Eustat. Visitors to Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa were up 1.5% and 3.7%, respectively, while visitors to Álava were down 10.5%.
Overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in October 2013 stood at 392,369, which was a drop of 2.8% on those registered in October of the previous year, that is, there were 11,323 fewer overnight stays. Overnight stays decreased sharply year-on-year in Álava, falling 17.0%, while overnight stays in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa also decreased, although more moderately, by 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
The number of foreign visitors rose by 3.2% in comparison with the month of October in the previous year, whilst the number of Spanish visitors fell by 1.1% in comparison with the same month in the previous year. Álava saw a decrease in visitor numbers from abroad, down 19.5%, and Spanish visitors, down 7.2%, compared to the same month of the previous year. In Bizkaia, the number of Spanish visitors also fell, down 1.0%; however, foreign visitors rose by 6.3%. In contrast, Gipuzkoa reported positive results, with increases in the number of foreign visitors, up 6.0%, and national visitors, up 2.0%.
The average length of stay stood at 1.86 days and represented a drop with respect to that of the previous year, 1.92 days. In Álava this figure fell from 1.89 in October 2012 to 1.76 this October; in Bizkaia it was down, from 1.88 days in October 2012 to 1.85 days this October and in Gipuzkoa it also dropped, falling from 1.99 to 1.91 days.
There was a reduction in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 47.2% in October 2012 to 44.7% in October this year. Álava witnessed a fall of 6.7 percentage points, dropping from an occupancy rate of 42.8% in October 2012 to a rate of 36.2% in October this year. Bizkaia saw a decrease of 1.3 percentage points, dropping from a bed occupancy rate of 47.7% in October 2012 to a rate of 46.4% in October this year. Gipuzkoa experienced a fall of 2.4 percentage points, dropping from 48.4% to 46.0%.
The highest hotel occupancy rate in October this year was in Donostia/San Sebastián (56.8%), followed by Bilbao (54.2%) and Rioja Alavesa (47.0%).
Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in October 2013, with 56.1% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 40.6% on weekdays.
The number of personnel employed in hotel establishments in the Basque Country in October 2013 fell by 0.7% in comparison with October 2012.
Overnight stays in rural accommodation decreased by 24.0% in October and the number of visitors was down 14.6%
Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 17,411 overnight stays in October, which was a drop of 24.0% in comparison with the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, a decrease of 35.6% was recorded in Bizkaia while Gipuzkoa saw a fall of 19.8%. Álava also witnessed a fall of 15.7% in comparison to October 2012.
The bed occupancy rate, 14.2%, also experienced a downturn of 3.6 percentage points in relation to October 2012. The fall experienced in Bizkaia was 5.9 percentage points, with the occupancy rate in October standing at 12.8%. Gipuzkoa also recorded a decrease of 2.9 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 14.7%. In Álava the occupancy rate stood at 15.2%, representing a decrease of 1.9 percentage points in comparison with October 2012.
There were 8,739 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in October, 14.6% down on the same month of the previous year. By province, Álava saw an increase of 6.7%; while decreases of 31.7% and 12.4% were recorded in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, respectively.
The 826 visitors originating from abroad signified an increase of 0.6% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 9.5% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain dropped by 15.9%.
Lastly, the average length of stay per visitor was slightly down, going from 2.24 days a year ago to 1.99 days in October 2013.
Note: The Statistics on Tourist Establishments since June have been gathered in accordance with a methodology that has meant large changes in all stages of the operation, and that allows better desegregations of results, both geographical and temporal. Furthermore, the reference framework has been updated, incorporating units that were previously not collected. This has meant the recalculating of the entire reference series from January 2011, from when comparable data has been available. Homogenous series can be found in the Databank.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on ETR - Survey on Tourist Establishments of the Basque Country
Databank on ETR - Survey on Tourist Establishments of the Basque Country