Press Release 21/05/2015
Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 10.9% in April 2015
Growth was consolidated in both Spanish visitor numbers (+10.3%) and foreign visitor numbers (+12.0%)
There were 208,825 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in April 2015, 20,521 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 10.9%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 16.0% in Bizkaia, 7.9% in Gipuzkoa, and 3.0% in Álava.
Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in April 2015 reached 386,755, which was an increase of 8.2% on those registered in April of the previous year; that is, there were 29,427 more overnight stays. There was also a positive year-on-year change in overnight stays in the provinces of Bizkaia, where they rose by 12.4%, and in Gipuzkoa, where they were up by 6.4%, but in Álava they decreased slightly by 0.6%.
The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 10.3% in the Basque Country compared to April of the previous year, whilst there was an increase in the proportion of foreign visitors of 12.0%. Álava registered a 1.0% decrease in visitors from Spain, and a 17.1% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 14.1%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 19.5%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 10.7%, and the number of foreign visitors rose by 3.7%.
The average length of stay in April was 1.85 days, down on the 1.90 days average stay registered in April 2014. In Álava there was a decrease from 1.83 days last year to 1.76 days in April this year; in Bizkaia it fell from 1.92 days in April 2014 to 1.86 days this April; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa also decreased from 1.90 days in April 2014 to 1.87 days this April.
There was an increase of 3.4 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 42.6% in April 2014 to 46.0% in April this year. Álava experienced a decrease of 0.2 percentage points, from 35.8% to 35.6%. Bizkaia saw an increase of 4.3 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 42.6% in April 2014 to a rate of 46.9% in April 2015. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 3.8 percentage points, going from 45.6% in April 2014 to 49.4% in April 2015.
The occupancy rate per room was also positive, up by 5.6 percentage points for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 56.9%. In Álava it was up by 1.8 percentage points, standing at 44.2%; in Bizkaia it increased by 7.6 percentage points, standing at 60.5%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 4.7 percentage points, standing at 57.6% occupancy per room.
The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in April this year was in Donostia/San Sebastián (56.1%), followed by Bilbao (54.2%) and Gipuzkoa Costa (49.8%).
Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in April 2015, with 59.4% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 41.1% on weekdays.
In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 1.4% in the month of April 2015; on the other hand, overnight stays fell by 5.9%
There were 10,957 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in April, 1.4% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors was up by 1.7%, in Bizkaia there was a drop of 9.4%, and in Gipuzkoa there was a rise of 2.7%. The number of visitors originating from abroad saw an increase of 38.8% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 12% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain fell by 2.2%.
Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 26,511 overnight stays in April, with a decrease of 5.9% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were down 4.8% in Álava, down by 10.9% in Gipuzkoa and rose by 4.1% in Bizkaia.
The bed occupancy rate stood at 22.3% with a fall of 1.8 percentage points from the figures obtained in April 2014. Álava recorded a drop of 0.5 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 21.3%. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate was 23.9%, which meant a decrease of 3.7 percentage points in relation to April 2014, and Bizkaia saw a rise of 0.2 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this April of 20.4%.
Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased this April with respect to April 2014, going from 2.61 days a year ago to 2.42 this last month.
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