Press release 25/03/2019

SURVEY ON HOST TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS, APARTMENTS. FEBRUARY 2019

Overnight stays in tourist apartments in the Basque Country increased by 14.9% in February 2019

In hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments as a whole, there was a 7.5% increase in overnight stays in February

Overnight stays registered in tourist apartments of the Basque Country in February 2019 stood at 19,834, up 14.9% on those registered in February 2018, according to EUSTAT data.

There was a positive year-on-year trend in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Gipuzkoa they increased by 23.0%, in Bizkaia they rose by 14.7% and in Álava they were up 7.0%.

There were 4,411 visitors registered in tourist apartments in the Basque Country in February 2019, which was a rise of 19.3%. The number of visitors was up 36.3% in Bizkaia and 11.6% in Gipuzkoa, but there was a drop of 17.8% in Álava.

This February the average length of stay was 4.50 days, below the average length of stay of 4.67 days registered in February 2018. In Álava there was an increase from 9.83 days last year to 12.80 days in February of this year; in Bizkaia it was down from 3.34 days to 2.81 days; and in Gipuzkoa, the average length of stay rose from 4.28 days in February 2018 to 4.72 days in February 2019.

Tourist balance for February 2019

In hotels, rural accommodation and apartments as a whole, there were 189,679 visitors in February 2019, which was an increase of 5.7% compared to the same month of the previous year. 47.5% of the total number of visitors to the Basque Country was concentrated in Bizkaia, and total visitor numbers rose by 3.9%. In Gipuzkoa, which accumulated 39.4% of visitors to the Basque Country, there was an increase of 9.9% and in Álava, with 13.2% of visitors, there was a rise of 0.6%.

Overnight stays in the total number of tourist establishments were up 7.5%, with increases in all three provinces. They were up 7.9% in Gipuzkoa, 7.5% in Bizkaia and 6.4% in Álava.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62