Press Release 20/04/2016
Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 18.6% in March 2016
During Easter, the number of visits to Basque hotels rose by 7.9%, giving a 80.4% occupancy rate by room
There were 208,235 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in March 2016, 32,689 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 18.6%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 19.8% in Bizkaia, 18.5% in Gipuzkoa, and 15.1% in Álava. When interpreting these data, it should be taken into account that Easter of 2015 was in April, whereas this year, 2016, it was in March.
Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in March 2016 reached 392,952, which was an increase of 23.5% on those registered in March of the previous year; that is, there were 74,880 more overnight stays. There was also a positive variation in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Bizkaia they increased by 25.0%, in Gipuzkoa they rose by 22.5% and in Álava they were up by 21.7%.
The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 16.0% in the Basque Country compared to March of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad increased by 25.6%. Álava registered a 15.1% increase in visitors from Spain, and a 15.4% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 17.5%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 25.9%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 14.7%, and the number of foreign visitors rose by 27.7%.
This March the average length of stay was 1.89 days, an improvement upon the 1.81 days average length of stay that was registered in March 2015. In Álava there was an increase from 1.75 days last year to 1.85 days in March this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.79 days in March 2015 to 1.86 days this March; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa increased from 1.86 days in March 2015 to 1.93 days this March.
There was a upturn of 7.5 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 37.3% in March 2015 to 44.8% in March this year. In Álava there was a rise of 6.7 percentage points, where it went from 32.1% occupancy in March 2015 to 38.8% this March. Bizkaia saw an increase of 7.4 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 36.4% in March 2015 to a rate of 43.8% this March. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 8.1 percentage points, going from 40.7% in March 2015 to 48.7% in March 2016.
The occupancy rate per room also registered an upward trend, with a 6.0 percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 54.8%. In Álava it was up by 7.8 percentage points, standing at 49.6%; in Bizkaia it increased by 4.9 percentage points to reach 55.4%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 6.6 percentage points, standing at 56.2% occupancy per room.
The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in March this year was in Donostia-San Sebastián (53.2%), followed by the Gipuzkoa Coast (51.8%) and Bilbao (51.7%).
Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in March 2016, with 59.6% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 39.6% on weekdays.
In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 50.0% and overnight stays rose by 88.0% in March
There were 10,281 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in March, 50.0% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors rose by 27.5%, in Bizkaia there was an increase of 85.1%, and in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 44.0%. The 650 visitors originating from abroad signified an increase of 70.2% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 6.3% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 48.8%.
Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 27,289 overnight stays in March, with an increase of 88.0% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up 115.6% in Álava, by 119.8% in Bizkaia and by 68.7% in Gipuzkoa.
The bed occupancy rate stood at 22.7% with a rise of 10.1 percentage points compared to the figures obtained in March 2015. Álava experienced an increase of 9.6 percentage points, with the bed occupancy rate standing at 20.1%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 19.5%, which meant an increase of 10.7 percentage points in relation to March 2015, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 9.8 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this March of 25.9%.
Finally, the average length of stay per visitor increased this March with respect to March 2015, going from 2.12 days a year ago to 2.65 this last month.
Easter Balance for 2016
The occupancy rate by room during Easter was 80.4% in hotel establishments in the Basque Country, 2.6 percentage points greater than the year before
The number of visitors to Basque hotel establishments rose to 42,054 during the 2016 Easter period from Thursday to Sunday (4 nights). This represents a 7.9% increase in visitors compared to the same Easter period in 2015. Of the total number of visitors, 10,470 (24.9%) were from abroad and 31,548 were from within Spain. The number of foreign visitors was up by 5.8% compared with the number of foreign visitors the previous year, and the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 8.6%.
Álava saw 6,330 visitors, 14.6% more than the previous year; Bizkaia 19,735 visitors, 12.2% more; and Gipuzkoa saw 15,989 visitors, which was a 0.8% increase.
In this same period, the total number of overnight stays in the Basque Country was 91,223, which was an increase of 8% compared with 2015. Overnight stays rose by 7.4% in Álava to 12,933, with a 10.1% increase in Bizkaia to 42,270 and a 5.9% increase in Gipuzkoa to 36,020 overnight stays.
During Easter 2016, the occupancy rate by room was 80.4%, 2.6 percentage points more than for Easter 2015. The day with the highest occupancy rate was Friday during Easter, which reached 90.3%. By province, there was a occupancy rate of 73.6% in Álava, 79.1% in Bizkaia and 84.8% in Gipuzkoa. This translates as an increase in occupancy rate of 3.6 percentage points in Álava, 3 percentage points in Bizkaia and 1.6 percentage points in Gipuzkoa compared with the rate for Easter 2015.
In the capitals, the highest occupancy rate by room was in Donostia-San Sebastián, with an occupancy rate of 91.5%, 1.1 percentage points more than Easter the previous year. This was followed by Bilbao, which had a bed occupancy rate of 84.7%, 1.9 percentage points more than 2015, with Vitoria-Gasteiz attaining an occupancy rate of 76.2%, 3.1 percentage points more.
The occupancy rate per room during Easter was 76.8% in the rural tourism establishments of the Basque Country
The number of visitors during Easter increased to 3,563 in the rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country. Álava saw 609 visitors, 6.9% fewer than in the same period in 2015; Bizkaia saw 1,164 visitors, 41.8% more, and there were 1,790 more visitors in Gipuzkoa, 23.3% more visitors than the previous year.
During the same period, overnight stays increased by 8.3% to 12,438, and the Basque Country as a whole experienced increases in all three provinces.
The occupancy rate per room was 76.8% for the Basque Country as a whole, 77.1% in Álava, 68.2% in Bizkaia and 82.0% in Gipuzkoa.
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