Press release of 22/05/2017

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. APRIL 2017

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country rose by 16.6% in April 2017

The average daily rate (ADR) for hotels stood at 80.7 euros in April 2017, 10.7% up on the previous year

There were 258,288 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in April 2017, 36,733 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 16.6%, according to Eustat data. The number of visitors rose by 32.4% in Álava, 19.7% in Gipuzkoa, and 10.0% in Bizkaia. When interpreting these data, it should be taken into account that Easter of 2016 was in March, whereas this year it was in April.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in April 2017 reached 486,886, which was an increase of 22.6% on those registered in April of the previous year, that is, there were 89,684 more overnight stays. There was also a positive year-on-year trend in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Álava they rose by 39.7%, in Gipuzkoa they were up by 26.0% and in Bizkaia they increased by 15.7%.

The number of visitors from within Spain rose by 17.6% in the Basque Country compared to April of the previous year, and the number of visitors from abroad increased by 14.9%. In the case of Álava, entries of Spanish visitors saw a 34.4% upturn, as well as an increase of 27.1% in the case of foreign visitors. In Bizkaia, the number of Spanish visitors was up by 7.6%, whereas the number of visitors from abroad rose by 14.2%. In Gipuzkoa there was also an increase both in Spanish visitor numbers, of 24.6%, and in the number of foreign visitors, which rose by 13.1%.

This April the average length of stay was 1.89 days, above the average length of stay of 1.79 days that was registered in April 2016. The average length of stay was higher in all three provinces. In Álava there was a rise from 1.69 days last year to 1.78 days in April of this year; in Bizkaia it increased from 1.80 days to 1.89 days; and finally in Gipuzkoa, the average length of stay in April 2016 was 1.82 days compared to 1.92 days this April.

There was an increase of 9.5 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 46.4% in April 2016 to 55.9% in April this year. In Álava there was a rise of 15.5 percentage points, where it went from 34.8% to 50.3% this April. Bizkaia saw an increase of 6.9 percentage points, going from a bed occupancy rate of 47.6% in April 2016 to a rate of 54.5% in April 2017. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 10 percentage points, going from 49.8% to 59.8%.

The occupancy rate per room also registered an increase, with a 6.5 percentage point increase for the Basque Country overall, where it stood at 65.4%. In Álava it was up by 12.3 percentage points, standing at 58.8%; in Bizkaia it increased by 3.3 percentage points to reach 66.3%; whereas in Gipuzkoa it rose by 7.9 percentage points, standing at 66.8% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate in April this year was in Donostia/San Sebastián (69.0%), followed by Bilbao (61.1%) and Gipuzkoa Costa (59.8%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in April 2017, with 68.7% of places occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 50.3% on weekdays.

Finally, with regards to the profitability indicators of the sector, the average daily rate (ADR) of hotels in the Basque Country stood at 80.7 euros in April 2017, 10.7% up on the year before. The average rate stood at 70 euros in Álava, where it increased by 7.6%; 74.7 euros in Bizkaia, with an increase of 9.3%, and 91.5 euros in Gipuzkoa, where it rose by 12.4%.

The revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the Basque Country overall, which is dependent on the occupancy rate of hotel establishments, stood at 52.7 euros in April 2017, a 22.9% increase on April 2016. The RevPAR stood at 41.2 euros in Álava, 49.5 euros in Bizkaia, and 61.2 euros in Gipuzkoa.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 59.5% and overnight stays more than doubled in April 2017

There were 16,006 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country in April, 59.5% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava the number of visitors increased by 50.8%, in Bizkaia there was an increase of 56.7%, and in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 65.0%. The 2,005 visitors originating from abroad signified a rise of 63.1% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 12.5% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 59.0%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 40,135 overnight stays in April, with an increase of 105.2% with respect to the same month of the previous year. At provincial level, they were up 79.9% in Álava, up by 93.2% in Bizkaia and rose in Gipuzkoa by 125.4%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 31.6% with a rise of 15.3 percentage points from the figures obtained in April 2016. Álava recorded an increase of 12.5 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 29.5%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 29.6%, which meant an increase of 13.2 percentage points in relation to April 2016, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 17.9 percentage points, with an occupancy rate this April of 33.8%.

Finally, the average length of stay per visitor increased this April with respect to April 2016, going from 1.95 days a year ago to 2.51 this last month.

Easter Balance for 2017

The occupancy rate by room during Easter was 82.4% in hotel establishments in the Basque Country, two percentage points greater than the year before

The number of visitors to Basque hotel establishments rose to 43,632 during the 2017 Easter period from Thursday to Sunday (4 nights). This represents a 3.8% increase in visitors compared to the same Easter period in 2016. Of the total number of visitors, 12,993 (29.8%) were from abroad and 30,639 were from within Spain. The number of foreign visitors was up by 24.1% compared with the number of foreign visitors the previous year, and the number of visitors from within Spain fell by 3.0%.

Álava saw 7,073 visitors, 11.7% more than the previous year; Bizkaia 19,872 visitors, 0.7% more; and Gipuzkoa saw 16,687 visitors, which was a 4.4% increase.

In this same period, the total number of overnight stays in the Basque Country was 94,123, which was an increase of 3.2% compared with 2016. Overnight stays rose by 7.9% in Álava to 13,960, with a 2.3% increase in Bizkaia to 43,223 and a 2.6% increase in Gipuzkoa to 36,940 overnight stays.

During Easter 2017, the occupancy rate by room was 82.4%, 2.0 percentage points more than for Easter 2016. By province, there was a occupancy rate of 81.6% in Álava, 81.9% in Bizkaia and 83.3% in Gipuzkoa. When compared with the rate for Easter 2016, this translates as an increase in occupancy rate of 8 percentage points in Álava and 2.8 percentage points in Bizkaia, but a decrease of 1.5 percentage points in Gipuzkoa.

In the capitals, the highest occupancy rate by room was in Donostia-San Sebastián, with an occupancy rate of 91.1%, 0.4 percentage points lower than Easter the previous year. This was followed by Bilbao, which had a bed occupancy rate of 85.8%, one percentage point more than 2016, with Vitoria-Gasteiz attaining an occupancy rate of 81.7%, 5.4 percentage points more.

The occupancy rate per room during Easter was 69.7% in the rural tourism establishments of the Basque Country

The number of visitors during Easter increased to 3,883 in the rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country. Álava saw 799 visitors, 31.2% more than in the same period in 2016; Bizkaia saw 1,329 visitors, 14.2% more, and there were 1,755 more visitors registered in Gipuzkoa, 2.0% fewer visitors than the previous year.

During the same period, overnight stays increased by 2.8% to 12,788 in the Basque Country as a whole. Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa experienced increases, while Álava experienced a decrease.

The occupancy rate per room was 69.7% for the Basque Country as a whole, 66.1% in Álava, 69.4% in Bizkaia and 71.6% in Gipuzkoa.

The occupancy rate per room during the Mayday public holiday was 7.4% in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country

Visitor numbers during the Mayday public holiday in 2017 increased to 23,426 in the hotel establishments in the Basque Country between 29 and 30 April 2017 (2 nights). In this same period there were 47,768 overnight stays. The occupancy rate per room was 87.4% in 2017, and the bed occupancy rate was 81.5%.

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