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Press Release 20/02/2015

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS, JANUARY 2015

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 9.7% in January 2015

The number of overnight stays registered an increase of 10.8% compared to the same month of the previous year

There were 125,784 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in January 2015, 11,131 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 9.7%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 14.4% in Álava, 12.1% in Gipuzkoa, and 6.6% in Bizkaia.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in January 2015 reached 219,242, which was an increase of 10.8% on those registered in January of the previous year, that is, there were 21,417 more overnight stays. There was also a positive evolution in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Gipuzkoa they increased by 13.4%, in Álava they rose by 11.7% and in Bizkaia they were up by 8.7%.

Table 1.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and bed occupancy rates in hotel establishments in the Basque Country. January 2015
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments (ETR)

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 9.7% in the Basque Country compared to January of the previous year, very similar to the increase in the proportion of foreign visitors, 9.8%. Álava registered a 14.9% increase in visitors from Spain, and a 12.4% increase of foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 7.2%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 5%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 10.8%, and the number of foreign visitors rose by 15.1%.

The average length of stay was 1.74 days last January, with very little change compared to the 1.73 days average length of stay that was registered in January 2014. In Álava there was a fall from 1.77 days last year to 1.73 days in January this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.72 days in January 2014 to 1.75 days this January; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa rose from 1.72 days in January 2014 to 1.74 days this January.

There was an increase of 2.7 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 25.2% in January 2014 to 27.8% in January this year. In Álava there was a rise of 2.8 percentage points, where it went from 22.2% occupancy in January 2014 to 25% this January. Bizkaia saw an increase of 2.7 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 25.5% in January 2014 to a rate of 28.2% in January 2015. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 2.5 percentage points, going from 26.2% in January 2014 to 28.7% in January 2015.

The occupancy rate per room was also positive, up by 2.6 percentage points for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 36.3%. In Álava it was up by 3.4 percentage points, standing at 33.2%; and in Bizkaia it increased by 3.1 percentage points, standing at 38%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 1.5 percentage points, standing at 35.4% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in January this year was in Donostia/San Sebastián (34.2%), followed by Bilbao (32.4%) and Rioja Alavesa (31.6%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in January 2015, with 35.1% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 24.4% on weekdays.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 12.4% and overnight stays rose by 10.6% in January

There were 3,510 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in January, 12.4% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors was down by 7.1%, in Bizkaia there was an increase of 41.2%, and in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 11.4%. The 237 visitors originating from abroad signified a decrease of 37.6% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 6.8% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 19.4%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 8,665 overnight stays in January, with an increase of 10.6% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were down 5.8% in Álava, whereas in Bizkaia they rose by 8.9% and in Gipuzkoa, by 20%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 8% with a rise of 0.8 percentage points from the figures obtained in January 2014. Álava also recorded a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 8.4%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 6.9%, which meant an increase of 0.6 percentage points in relation to January 2014, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 1.3 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this January of 8.5%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased last January with respect to January 2014, going from 2.51 days a year ago to 2.47 this last month.

Table 2.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and occupancy rates in rural accommodation establishments in the Basque Country. January 2015
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments (ETR)