Press Release 20/01/2016
Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 15.0% in December 2015
The balance for 2015 closed with a rise in visitor numbers of 8.8% and a rise in overnight stays of 8.2%
There were 184,276 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in December 2015, 24,050 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 15.0%, according to Eustat data. Visitor numbers increased in the three provinces: in Gipuzkoa by 22.0%, in Álava by 17.3% and in Bizkaia by 9.4%.
Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in December 2015 reached 335,009, which was an increase of 16.3% on those registered in December of the previous year, that is, there were 46,960 more overnight stays. There was also a positive variation in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Álava they increased by 23.7%, in Gipuzkoa they rose by 20.8% and in Bizkaia they were up by 10.7%.
The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 16.4% in the Basque Country compared to December of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad rose by 10.9%. Álava saw an increase in foreign visitors of 43.9% and a rise in Spanish visitors of 12.7%. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 14.9%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad fell by 6.3%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in foreign visitor numbers of 24.2%, and the number of Spanish visitors rose by 21.0%.
The average length of stay was 1.82 days last December, an improvement upon the 1.80 days average length of stay that was registered in December 2014. In Álava there was a rise from 1.73 days last year to 1.82 days in December this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.80 days in December 2014 to 1.82 days this December; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa fell from 1.83 days in December 2014 to 1.82 days this December.
There was an increase of 4.4 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 35.9% in December 2014 to 40.3% in December this year. Álava witnessed an increase of 7.9 percentage points, dropping from an occupancy rate of 32.6% in December 2014 to a rate of 40.5% this December. Bizkaia saw an increase of 1.5 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 37.3% in December 2014 to a rate of 38.8% in December 2015. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 6.6 percentage points, going from 35.7% in December 2014 to 42.3% in December 2015.
The occupancy rate per room also registered an upward trend, with a 4.0 percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 47.9%. In Álava it was up by 8.7 percentage points, standing at 48.1%; in Bizkaia it increased by 1.2 percentage points to reach 47.3%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 5.5 percentage points, standing at 48.6% occupancy per room.
The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in December this year was in San Sebastián (48.1%), followed by the Gipuzkoa Coast (45.0%) and Bilbao (44.5%).
Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in December 2015, with 46.4% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 38.2% on weekdays.
The occupancy rate per room during the Immaculate Conception Bank Holiday (4, 5, 6 and 7 December) was 71.3% in the hotel establishments in the Basque Country
The number of visitors during the 2015 Immaculate Conception Bank Holiday increased to 37,034 in the hotel establishments in the Basque Country. These were visits that lasted from 4 to 7 December 2015 (4 nights). Over the same period there were 76,298 overnight stays in the Basque Country as a whole.
2015 balance for hotel establishments: the number of visitors registered a rise of 8.8% and the number of overnight stays in the Basque Country was up by 8.2% compared to the previous year
There were 2,637,385 visitors in 2015, that is, 212,553 more than the previous year. The number of visitors increased by 6.8% in Álava, 8.6% in Gipuzkoa and 9.5% in Bizkaia.
Overnight stays in 2015 stood at 5,041,338, that is, 383,833 overnight stays up on the previous year. Overnight stays were up by 4.9% in Álava, by 8.3% in Bizkaia and by 9.4% in Gipuzkoa.
The average length of stay fell slightly, going from 1.92 days in 2014 to 1.91 days in 2015 in the Basque Country, whilst the bed occupancy rate was up from 46.4% in 2013 to 49.8% in 2015.
In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 12.1% and overnight stays rose by 7.1% in December
Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 24,752 overnight stays in December, with an increase of 7.1% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were down 1.9% in Álava, down by 3.8% in Bizkaia, whereas they rose by 19.2% in Gipuzkoa.
The bed occupancy rate stood at 21.0% with a rise of 0.9 percentage points from the figures obtained in December 2014. Álava also recorded a decrease of 0.8 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 19.0%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 20.6%, which meant a decrease of 1.7 percentage points in relation to December 2014, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 3.3 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate of 22.2%.
There were 10,833 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in December 2015, 12.1% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, the number of visitors to Álava and Gipuzkoa was up by 12.0% and 25% respectively, whereas in Bizkaia the number fell by 4.2%.
The 436 visitors originating from abroad signified a decrease of 13.8% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 4.0% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 13.5%.
Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased last December with respect to December 2014, going from 2.39 days a year ago to 2.28 this last month.
2015 annual balance for rural tourism: visitor numbers rose by 8.9% and overnight stays rose by 9.2%
There were 137,035 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in 2015, which was 8.9% up on the previous year, whilst overnight stays stood at 356,476, 9.2% up on 2014.
Visitor numbers increased in the three provinces: in Álava they rose by 10.5%, in Bizkaia they were up 10.1% and in Gipuzkoa they rose by 7.8%. Overnight stays also rose in the three provinces: by 17.4% in Álava, 9.4% in Bizkaia and 7.0% in Gipuzkoa.
The average length of stay per visitor in 2015 has remained largely unchanged at 2.60 days over the two years 2014 and 2015. The bed occupancy rate was up, going from 23.3% in 2014 to 25.1% in 2015.
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