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Press Release 21/11/2014

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS (ETR) OCTOBER 2014

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 8.8% in October 2014

The number of overnight stays registered an increase of 11.6% compared to the same month of the previous year

There were 229,667 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in October 2014, 18,511 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 8.8%, according to Eustat data. Visitor numbers increased in the three provinces: in Álava by 21.5%, in Gipuzkoa by 12.4% and in Bizkaia by 2.6%.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in October 2014 reached 437,815, which was an increase of 11.6% on those registered in October of the previous year, that is, there were 45,446 more overnight stays. There was also a positive evolution in overnight states in the three provinces: in Álava they increased by 22.0%, in Gipuzkoa they grew by 14.2% and in Bizkaia they were up by 6.9%.

Table 1.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and bed occupancy rates in hotel establishments in the Basque Country. October 2014
Source: Eustat. Survey on Tourist Establishments (ETR)

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 9.6% compared to October of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad rose by 7.4%. Álava saw an increase in foreign visitors of 28.8% and a rise in Spanish visitors of 19.2%. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 4.8%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad fell by 1.3%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in foreign visitor numbers of 12.8%, and the number of Spanish visitors rose by 12.0%.

The average length of stay stood at 1.91 days and represented an increase with respect to that of October the previous year, which was 1.86 days. In Álava there was no noticeable change between the average length of stay in October 2013 and October 2014, which in both cases was 1.76 days; in Bizkaia it rose from 1,85 days in October 2013 to 1.92 days last October; in Gipuzkoa it rose from an average length of stay of 1.91 days in October 2013 to 1.94 last October.

There was an increase of 5.6 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 44.7% in October 2013 to 50.3% in October this year. Álava witnessed a rise of 7.7 percentage points, dropping from an occupancy rate of 36.2% in October 2013 to a rate of 43.8% in October this year. Bizkaia saw an increase of 4.4 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 46.4% in October 2013 to a rate of 50.8% in October 2014. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 6.5 percentage points, going from 46.0% in October 2013 to 52.5% in October 2014.

The occupancy rate per room was also positive, up by 7.3 percentage points for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 63.8%. In Álava it was up by 9.4 percentage points, standing at 55.2%; and in Bizkaia it increased by 6.2 percentage points, standing at 66.7%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 8.0 percentage points, standing at 63.8% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in October this year was in Donostia/San Sebastián (63.4%), followed by Bilbao (58.9%) and the Rioja Alavesa (53.4%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in October 2014, with 62.1% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 45.4% on weekdays.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 20.8% and overnight stays rose by 20.1% in October

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 20,906 overnight stays in October, with an increase of 20.1% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up slightly by 0.8% in Álava, by 23.6% in Bizkaia and by 27.6% in Gipuzkoa.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 17.5% with a rise of 3.3 percentage points from the figures obtained in October 2013. Álava recorded an increase of 1.8 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 17.0%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate stood at 15.9%, representing an increase of 3.2 percentage points in comparison with October 2013. For its part, Gipuzkoa experienced a rise of 4.0 percentage points, with an occupancy rate of 18.8% for October.

There were 10,561 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in October, 20.8% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors was up by 2.9%, in Bizkaia there was an increase of 31.8%, and in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 25.7%.

The 1,433 visitors originating from abroad signified an increase of 73.5% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 13.6% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 15.4%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased slightly last October with respect to October 2013, going from 1.99 days a year ago to 1.98 this last month.

Table 2.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and occupancy rates in rural accommodation establishments in the Basque Country. October 2014
Source: Eustat. Survey on Tourist Establishments (ETR)