Press release 18/03/2020

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. HOTELS AND RURAL ACCOMMODATION. FEBRUARY 2020

Visitors to hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 15.2% in February 2020

The average daily rate (ADR) rose by 3.1% and the revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 11.2%.

There were 206,297 visitors registered in the hotel establishments of the Basque Country in February 2020; up 27,189 on the same month of the previous year, which is an increase of 15.2%, according to Eustat data. By province, visitor numbers increased by 16.5% in Álava, 16.1% in Bizkaia and 13.5% in Gipuzkoa.

Furthermore, overnight stays registered in hotel establishments of the Basque Country in February 2020 reached 372,130, which was an increase of 14.2% on those registered in February of the previous year; that is, there were 46,272 more overnight stays. There was a year-on-year positive trend in overnight stays in the three provinces: in Álava they increased by 15.7%, in Bizkaia they rose by 12.5% and in Gipuzkoa they were up 16.0%.

The number of visitors from within Spain to the Basque Country as a whole registered a positive variation of 14.1% in February 2020 compared to February of the previous year. In turn, the number of visitors from abroad increased by 17.6%. In the case of Álava, visitor numbers saw an upturn in both cases, of 17.2% for Spanish visitors and 13.7% in the case of foreign visitors. In Bizkaia the number of Spanish visitors was up 9.9% and the number of visitors from abroad rose by 30.7%. In Gipuzkoa the number of Spanish visitors increased by 18.5% and those from abroad by 4.8%.

This February the average length of stay was 1.80 days, below the average length of stay of 1.82 days registered in February 2019. In Álava there was a decrease from 1.87 days last year to 1.85 days in February of this year; in Bizkaia there was a drop from 1.88 days to 1.83 days; and finally in Gipuzkoa, the average length of stay rose from 1.72 days in February 2019 to 1.76 days in February 2020.

There was an increase of 3.5 percentage points in the bed occupancy rate for the Basque Country overall, where it went from 42.2% in February 2019 to 45.7% in February this year. Álava experienced an increase of 3.2 percentage points, up from 39.8% to 43.0%. Bizkaia registered an increase of 1.1 percentage points, rising from an occupancy rate of 43.9% in February 2019 to a rate of 45.0% this February. In Gipuzkoa the occupancy rate increased by 6.9 percentage points, rising from 41.0% in February 2019 to 47.9% this February.

The occupancy rate per room also registered an increase, with a 4.3 percentage point rise for the Basque Country overall, reaching 58.3%. In Álava it was up 4.5 percentage points, standing at 56.3%, and in Bizkaia it increased by 1.5 percentage points, reaching 59.1%. Meanwhile, in Gipuzkoa there was an increase of 7.7 percentage points, registering 58.0% occupancy per room.

The highest hotel bed occupancy rate this February was in Donostia-San Sebastián (51.9%), followed by Bilbao (49.8%) and Gipuzkoa Costa (48.5%).

Taking into account the day of the week, at weekends there was a higher

occupancy in the Basque Country as a whole in February 2020, with 59.6% of beds occupied, whilst the registered occupancy stood at 39.4% 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 68.8 euros in February 2020, up 3.1% on the previous year. The average rate stood at 63.1 euros in Álava, with a rise of 9.3%; 72.0 euros in Bizkaia, with an increase of 3.8%, and 66.6 euros in Gipuzkoa, up 0.2%.

The revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the Basque Country overall, which is dependent on the occupancy rate of hotel establishments, stood at 40.1 euros in February 2020, an 11.2% increase on February 2019. The RevPAR stood at 35.5 euros in Álava, 42.5 euros in Bizkaia, and 38.6 euros in Gipuzkoa.

In rural accommodation, visitor numbers increased by 12.8% and overnight stays rose by 8.9% in February 2020

This February there were 6,948 visitors to rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country, 12.8% more than in the same month of the previous year. Overnight stays increased by 12.4% in Álava, while in Bizkaia they were up 20.4% and in Gipuzkoa there was a rise of 9.8%. The 941 visitors originating from abroad signified a rise of 21.6% with regards to those received a year ago and represented 13.5% of the total number of visitors. For its part, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 11.5%.

Rural tourism establishments and country cottages in the Basque Country recorded a total of 14,853 overnight stays in February 2020, which was an increase of 8.9% compared to the same month of the previous year. By province, in Álava they were up 4.0%, in Bizkaia they were down 13.7% and in Gipuzkoa they rose by 22.8%.

The bed occupancy rate stood at 14.3% with an increase of 0.4 percentage points on the figures obtained in February 2019. Álava saw a decrease of 0.8 percentage points, with a bed occupancy rate of 8.7%. In Bizkaia the occupancy rate was 12.5%, which meant a decrease of 1.5 percentage points in relation to February 2019, and Gipuzkoa saw a rise of 2.3 percentage points to reach an occupancy rate this February of 18.5%.

Lastly, the average length of stay per visitor was down from 2.21 days in February 2019 to 2.14 days in February 2020.

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