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Press Release 21/03/2016

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS, FEBRUARY 2016

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 19.1% in February 2016

The number of foreign visitors has grown by more than 28%

There were 162,340 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in February 2016, 26,067 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 19.1%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 27.6% in Gipuzkoa, 15.8% in Bizkaia, and 9.7% in Álava.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in February 2016 reached 286,211, which was an increase of 20.9% on those registered in February of the previous year; that is, there were 49,408 more overnight stays. There was also a positive year-on-year variation in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Gipuzkoa they increased by 26.9%, in Bizkaia they rose by 17.7% and in Álava they were up by 17.2%.

Table 1.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and bed occupancy rates in hotel establishments in the Basque Country. February 2016
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 15.8% in the Basque Country compared to February of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad increased by 28.3%. Álava registered a 6.0% increase in visitors from Spain, and a 27.6% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up by 13.5%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 21.8%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 23.7%, and the number of foreign visitors rose by 36.7%.

This February the average length of stay was 1.76 days, an improvement upon the 1.74 days average length of stay that was registered in February 2015. In Álava there was an increase from 1.75 days last year to 1.87 days in February this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.75 days in February 2015 to 1.78 days this February; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa dropped slightly from 1.72 days in February 2015 to 1.71 days this February.

There was an increase of five percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 32.0% in February 2015 to 37.0% in February this year. In Álava there was a rise of 3.9 percentage points, where it went from 27.9% occupancy in February 2015 to 31.8% this February. Bizkaia saw an increase of 3.4 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 34.0% in February 2015 to a rate of 37.4% this February. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 7.5 percentage points, going from 31.4% in February 2015 to 38.9% in February 2016.

The occupancy rate per room also registered an upward trend, with a six percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 49.2%. In Álava it was up by 7.1 percentage points, standing at 44.6%; in Bizkaia it increased by 4.7 percentage points to reach 51.6%; and in Gipuzkoa it rose by 7.0 percentage points, standing at 48.1% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in February this year was in Bilbao (43.1%), followed by Donostia/San Sebastián (42.2%) and Gipuzkoa Costa (41.0%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in February 2016, with 50.8% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 31.7% on weekdays.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 46.3% and overnight stays rose by 37.7% in February 2016

There were 5,915 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in February, 46.3% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors rose by 54.7%, in Bizkaia there was an increase of 55.1%, and in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 40.7%. The 367 visitors originating from abroad signified an increase of 79.9% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 6.2% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 44.5%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 12,294 overnight stays in February, with an increase of 37.7% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up 56.6% in Álava, by 37.6% in Bizkaia and by 32.7% in Gipuzkoa.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 11.7% with a rise of 2.6 percentage points from the figures obtained in February 2015. Álava experienced an increase of 2.4 percentage points, with the bed occupancy rate standing at 9.5%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 8.6%, which meant an increase of 2.2 percentage points in relation to February 2015, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 3.0 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this February of 14.6%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased this February with respect to February 2015, going from 2.21 days a year ago to 2.08 this last month.

Table 2.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and occupancy rates in rural accommodation establishments in the Basque Country. February 2016
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments