Press Release 22/06/2016

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS, MAY 2016

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 6.5% in May 2016

The growth in the number of visitors from abroad, at 12.4%, almost doubled that of the same month of the previous year

There were 260,619 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in May 2016, 16,019 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 6.5%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors was up 12.5% in Gipuzkoa and 4.1% in Bizkaia whereas in Álava there was a drop of 1.7%.

Overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in May 2016 reached 494,385, which was an increase of 8.5% on those registered in May of the previous year; that is, there were 38,593 more overnight stays. There was a positive year-on-year variation in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Gipuzkoa they increased by 11.1%, in Bizkaia they rose by 8.2% and in Álava they were up by 1.4%.

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 2.3% in the Basque Country compared to May of the previous year, whilst there was an increase in the proportion of foreign visitors of 12.4%. Álava registered a 7.3% decrease in visitors from Spain, and a 12.4% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia, the number of Spanish visitors was up by 2.1%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 7.1%. In Gipuzkoa there was an increase in Spanish visitor numbers of 7.5%, and the number of foreign visitors rose by 17.6%.

The average length of stay in May was 1.90 days, up on the 1.86 days average stay registered in May 2015. In Álava there was an increase from 1.73 days last year to 1.78 days in May this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.86 days in May 2015 to 1.93 days this May; and for its part, in Gipuzkoa the average length of stay decreased from 1.92 days in May 2015 to 1.90 days this May.

There was an increase of 3.4 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 52.4% in May 2015 to 55.8% in May this year. Álava experienced a rise of 0.8 percentage points, increasing from 42.6% to 43.4%. Bizkaia saw an increase of 2.7 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 52.4% in May 2015 to a rate of 55.1% in May 2016. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 5.3 percentage points, going from 56.7% in May 2015 to 62.0% in May 2016.

The occupancy rate per room also registered an upward trend, with a 5 percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, where the occupancy rate per room stood at 70.2%. In Álava it was up by 3.2 percentage points, standing at 56.7%; in Bizkaia it increased by 3.7 percentage points to reach 72.2%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 7.1 percentage points, standing at 73.3% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in May this year was in Donostia-San Sebastián (69.9%), followed by the Gipuzkoa Coast (64.6%) and Bilbao (63.4%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in May 2016, with 67.4% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 51.7% on weekdays.

The occupancy rate per room during the first two days of the Machine Tool Biennial stood at 84.8% in the hotel establishments of Bizkaia

Visitor numbers during the Machine Tool Biennial, on 30 and 31 May, rose to 7,593 in hotel establishments in Bizkaia. In this same period, the total number of overnight stays in Bizkaia was 15,126, with an occupancy rate per room of 84.8%.

In Bilbao there were 4,984 visitors and 9,949 overnight stays, with a room occupancy rate of 93.4% over the two given days (30 and 31 May).

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 8.1% and overnight stays rose by 10.7% in May 2016

There were 13,037 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in May, 8.1% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors was up by 33.2%, in Gipuzkoa there was a drop of 11.1%, whereas in Bizkaia there was a decrease of 9.6%. The number of visitors originating from abroad saw a rise of 5.2% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 20.6% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 8.9%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 27,355 overnight stays in May, with an increase of 10.7% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up 24.5% in Álava, Gipuzkoa saw an increase of 9.6% and in Bizkaia they rose by 4.9%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 21.8% with a rise of 1.5 percentage points from the figures obtained in May 2015. Álava recorded a rise of 2.6 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 18.7%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 21.0%, which meant an increase of 1.4 percentage points in relation to May 2015, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 1.1 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this May of 23.8%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor increased this May with respect to May 2015, going from 2.05 days a year ago to 2.10 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