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Press Release 22/02/2017

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS JANUARY 2017

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 10.7% in January 2017

The average daily rate (ADR) for hotels stood at 66.1 euros in January 2017, 2.6% up on the previous year

There were 157,023 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in January 2017, 15,238 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 10.7%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 28.1% in Bizkaia, but fell by 3.9% in Gipuzkoa and by 1.9% in Álava.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in January 2017 reached 286,688, which was an increase of 13.7% on those registered in January of the previous year, that is, there were 34,545 more overnight stays. There was a year-on-year upward trend overnight stays in Bizkaia, which registered an increase of 36.3%. Meanwhile, in Álava and Gipuzkoa figures were down 6.8% and 4.0%, respectively.

Table 1.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and bed occupancy rates in hotel establishments in the Basque Country. January 2017
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 2.8% in the Basque Country compared to January of the previous year, whilst the number of visitors from abroad increased by 32.0%. Álava registered a 3.4% decrease in visitors from Spain, and a 5.0% increase in foreign visitors. In Bizkaia, the number of Spanish visitors was up by 16.6% while the number of visitors from abroad rose by 60.0%. Gipuzkoa registered a 10.7% decrease in visitors from Spain, although the number of foreign visitors rose by 11.2%.

The average length of stay was 1.83 days in January this year, an improvement upon the 1.78 days average length of stay registered in January 2016. In Álava there was a fall from 1.80 days last year to 1.71 days in January this year; in Bizkaia it rose from 1.79 days to 1.90 days this January; and for its part, the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa barely fluctuated and remained at 1.76 days.

There was an increase of 4.0 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 31.4% in January 2016 to 35.4% in January this year. In Álava, there was a drop of 0.3 percentage points, with bed occupancy rates falling to 28.9% this January. In Bizkaia, the bed occupancy rate rose by 10.0 percentage points, reaching 38.8%. Bed occupancy rates fell by 2.4 percentage points in Gipuzkoa, standing at 33.5% in January 2017.

The occupancy rate per room also registered an upward trend, with a 7.1 percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, reaching 47.6%. In Álava it was down by 3.4 percentage points, standing at 36.1%; in Bizkaia it increased by 16.2 percentage points, reaching 54.8%. Meanwhile, in Gipuzkoa there was a drop of 1.2 percentage points, registering 42.5% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel occupancy rate in January this year was in Bilbao (42.0%), followed by the metropolitan area of Bilbao, not including the capital (39.7%) and Donostia/San Sebastián (39.5%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in January 2017, with 42.2% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 33.1% on weekdays.

Finally, with regards to the profitability indicators of the sector, the average daily rate (ADR) of hotels in the Basque Country overall stood at 66.1 euros in January 2017, a 2.6% increase on the previous year; 57.0 euros in Álava, a drop of 1.1%, 65.6 euros in Bizkaia, an increase of 6.7% and 70.3 euros in Gipuzkoa, where rates also fell by 0.7%.

The revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the Basque Country overall, which is dependent on the occupancy rate of hotel establishments, stood at 31.5 euros in January 2017, a 20.5% increase on January 2016. There were once again territorial differences. In Álava, the RevPAR stood at 20.6 euros, 36.0 euros in Bizkaia, and 29.9 euros in Gipuzkoa.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers decreased by 4.3% and overnight stays fell by 10.5% in January

There were 4,318 visitors to rural accommodation in the Basque Country in January 2017, 4.3% fewer than the same month of the previous year. By province, the number of visitors was up by 9.7% in Álava, in Bizkaia there was a drop of 3.4%, and in Gipuzkoa there was a decrease of 10.8%. The 374 visitors originating from abroad signified a decrease of 18.7% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 8.7% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain fell by 2.6%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 9,721 overnight stays in January, with a decrease of 10.5% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were down 31.8% in Álava, whereas in Bizkaia they rose by 1.7% and in Gipuzkoa, by 8.0%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 8.8% with a fall of 1.4 percentage points from the figures obtained in January 2016. Álava also recorded a decrease of 3.9 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 6.5%. In Bizkaia, the occupancy rate stood at 9.6%, resulting in an increase of 0.3 percentage points in relation to January 2016, whereas in Gipuzkoa rates fell by 1.1 percentage points, reaching an occupancy rate of 9.5% this January.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor decreased this January with respect to January 2016, going from 2.41 days a year ago to 2.25 this last month.

Table 2.- Overnight stays, visitor numbers, average stay and occupancy rates in rural accommodation in the Basque Country. January 2017
Source: Eustat. Survey on tourist establishments