Press Release 21/09/2015

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. AUGUST 2015

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 4.4% in August 2015

The number of overnight stays also registered an increase of 6.0% compared to the same month of the previous year

There were 322,153 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in August 2015, 13,461 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 4.4%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 11.7% in Álava, 4.6% in Bizkaia and 0.9% in Gipuzkoa.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in August 2015 reached 698,897, which was an increase of 6.0% on those registered in August of the previous year; that is, there were 39,540 more overnight stays. There was also a positive year-on-year variation in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Álava they increased by 7.1%, in Bizkaia they rose by 5.9% and in Gipuzkoa they were up by 5.8%.

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 9.4% in the Basque Country compared to August of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad decreased by 1.6%. Álava registered an 9.0% increase in visitors from Spain, and a 16.2% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 14.5%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad fell by 6.0%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 3.5%, and the number of foreign visitors dropped by 2.0%.

The average length of stay in August was 2.17 days, an increase on the average stay of 2.14 days registered in August 2014. In Álava there was a decrease from 1.86 days last year to 1.78 days in August this year; in Bizkaia the average stay for this August stood at 2.17 days, an increase on the 2.14 days registered in August 2014; and as for Gipuzkoa, there was an increase from the 2.24 days last August to 2.35 days this August.

There was an increase of 4.4 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 73.8% in August 2014 to 78.2% in August this year. Álava experienced a rise of 4.8 percentage points, increasing from 64.6% to 69.5%. Bizkaia saw an increase of 2.9 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 74.2% in August 2014 to a rate of 77.2% in August 2015. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 6.2 percentage points, going from 77.2% in August 2014 to 83.4% in August 2015.

The occupancy rate per room was also positive, up by 5.1 percentage points for the Basque Country overall, where it stood at 83.7%. In Álava it was up by 6.4 percentage points, standing at 73.1%; in Bizkaia it increased by 3.5 percentage points to reach 83.8%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 6.7 percentage points, standing at 87.9% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in August this year was in on the Gipuzkoa Coast (89.4%), followed by Donostia-San Sebastián (88.9%) and Bilbao (81.8%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in August 2015, with 81.3% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 77.0% on weekdays.

The occupancy rate per room during the festivals of the three Basque capitals varied between 86% in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao and 93% in Donostia-San Sebastián

In Vitoria-Gasteiz there were 7,417 visitors and 15,551 overnight stays during the 2015 Virgen Blanca festival, over the dates of 4 to 9 August 2015 (6 nights), with an occupancy rate per bed of 82.7% and per room of 86.1%. Compared to 2014 visitor numbers increased by 11.8% and overnight stays by 4.3%.

In Donostia-San Sebastián, during the Aste Nagusia celebrations, between 8 and 15 August 2015 (8 nights), 16,469 visitors and 41,403 overnight stays were recorded, with an occupancy rate per room of 96.0% and per bed of 92.8%. Compared to 2014, when the festival was held between 9 and 16 August (8 nights), visitor numbers increased in Donostia-San Sebastián by 16.2% and overnight stays by 9.3%.

Visitor numbers during the 2015 Bilbao Aste Nagusia Festival increased to 24,491 in the hotel establishments of the capital of Bizkaia. These were visits that lasted from 22 to 30 August 2015 (9 nights). In this same period, the total number of overnight stays was 54,018, with an occupancy rate per bed of 77.8% and per room of 86.2%. Compared with 2014, when the Semana Grande festival was held between 16 and 24 August (9 nights), both visitor numbers and overnight stays decreased by 10.7% and 11.1% respectively.

In rural accommodation overnight stays increased by 11.6% but visitor numbers decreased by 2.9% in August 2015

There were 22,953 visitors to rural accommodation in the Basque Country in August, 2.9% fewer than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors increased slightly, by 0.2%, in Bizkaia there was a decrease of 2.2%, and in Gipuzkoa there was a decrease of 4.2%. There was a 3.4% increase in the number of visitors originating from abroad with regards to those received a year ago, representing 18.0% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain fell by 4.3%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 90,348 overnight stays in August, with an increase of 11.6% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up 25.5% in Álava, Bizkaia saw a rise of 16.8% and in Gipuzkoa they rose by 6.0%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 69.3% with a rise of 5.4 percentage points from the figures obtained in August 2014. Álava recorded a rise of 8.9 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 45.7%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 70.2%, which meant an increase of 8.3 percentage points in relation to August 2014, and Gipuzkoa saw a fall of 1.8 percentage points, with an occupancy rate this August of 78.3%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor increased with respect to August 2014, going from 3.42 days a year ago to 3.94 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