Press release 27/01/2020

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. TOURIST APARTMENTS AND OTHER TOURIST ACCOMMODATION. DECEMBER 2019

Visitor numbers to hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments as a whole in the Basque Country were up 2.5% in December 2019

According to the 2019 yearly calculation, visitor numbers increased by 3.6%

In the total number of tourist establishments (hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments) there were 226,090 visitors in December 2019, which was an increase of 2.5% on the same month of the previous year, according to EUSTAT data. All three territories experienced growth. In Bizkaia, which accumulated 49.3% of visitors, total visitor numbers increased by 3.3%; in Gipuzkoa, which accounted for 36.3% of visitors in December 2019, there was a rise of 2.2%; and in Álava, with 14.3%, visitor numbers were up 0.5%.

For their part, overnight stays in the total number of tourist establishments in the Basque Country as a whole did not experience significant variation (0.0%) compared to December 2018. By province they increased by 0.7% in Gipuzkoa, whereas they decreased by 0.3% in Bizkaia and 1.2% in Álava.

2019 annual balance for tourism

In 2019, in hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments as a whole in the Basque Country there were 3,441,967 visitors, 3.6% more than in the previous year. Bizkaia, with 46.9% of visitors, registered an increase of 3.9%; and visitor numbers in Gipuzkoa, accounting for 39.7% of the total, were up 5.6%. However, in Álava, with 13.4% of visitors, there was a decrease of 2.9% in 2019.

In turn, overnight stays reached 7,021,938 in 2019, 3.3% more than the previous year. By province, there was growth in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, with an upturn of 2.6% and 5.2% respectively, whilst in Álava there was a downturn of 0.1%.

Visitor numbers in tourist apartments in the Basque Country were up 21.4% in December 2019 in year-on-year terms

There were 6,353 visitors registered in the tourist apartments of the Basque Country in December 2019, 1,120 up on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 21.4%. The number of visitors rose by 57.2% in Gipuzkoa, 27.2% in Álava, and 4.4% in Bizkaia.

For its part, in December 2019, the number of overnight stays in tourist apartments stood at 22,102, 291 fewer than in December 2018, a decrease of 1.3%. There was a year-on-year downward trend in overnight stays in Álava and Bizkaia, where they dropped by 4.7% and 7.9%, respectively, but in Gipuzkoa they were up 11.7%.

This December the average length of stay was 3.48 days, below the average length of stay of 4.28 days registered in December 2018. In Álava there was a decrease from 7.86 days in 2018 to 5.88 days in December 2019; in Bizkaia there was a drop from 2.92 days to 2.58 days; and finally in Gipuzkoa, the average length of stay also fell from 4.93 days in December 2018 to 3.50 days in December 2019.

Tourist Apartments. Annual balance 2019

In 2019 visitor numbers increased by 13.5% and overnight stays were up 5.3% compared to 2018

In 2019 there were 89,986 visitors to tourist apartments in the Basque Country, 13.5% more than the same month of the previous year. By province, in Bizkaia visitor numbers were up 18.3%, in Gipuzkoa they increased by 17.9%, whilst in Álava, they were down 11.0%. The 29,701 visitors originating from abroad signified an increase of 16.2% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 33.0% of the total number of visitors. For their part, visitors from within Spain were up 12.2%.

In 2019, tourist apartments in the Basque Country registered a total of 324,639 overnight stays, 5.3% up on the previous year. By province, they increased in both Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, 6.7% and 9.7% respectively, but in Álava, they were down 1.8%.

Finally, in 2019, the average length of stay decreased with respect to 2018, going from 3.89 days in 2018 to 3.61 in 2019.

For further information:

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