Press release 26/10/2020

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. TOURIST APARTMENTS AND OTHER TOURIST ACCOMMODATION. SEPTEMBER 2020

During the summer of 2020, the tourist establishments that best withstood the impact of the health crisis in the Basque Country were tourist apartments

Rioja Alavesa, the Bizkaia Coast, San Sebastián and the Gipuzkoa Coast offered the best results for both visitors and overnight stays at hotels

RESULTS SUMMER 2020: JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER

During July, August and September 2020, visitors and overnight stays in tourist apartments fell by 29.7% and 27.1%, respectively, compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data processed by Eustat. These decreases are more moderate than those recorded for other tourist establishments.

The reductions were prompted by the numbers of visitors who reside abroad, with a 66.4% drop in visitors and a 59.5% decrease in overnight stays, compared to summer 2019.

The bed occupancy rate during the summer months of 2020 was 30.3%, 13.7 percentage points lower than in summer 2019. As regards the apartment occupancy rate, it stood at 55.8% of the total, 18.8 percentage points below the value for the previous year.

By province, Álava recorded the best figures during summer 2020, although visitor numbers were 20% lower than those for the previous summer and overnight stays fell by 22.3%. In Bizkaia, visitors were also down by 31.4% and overnight stays by 27.7%. Finally, in Gipuzkoa, visitor numbers and overnight stays dropped by 30.4% and 29.4%, respectively, compared to the summer months of 2019.

During the summer months of 2020, overnight stays fell by 48.5% in hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments as a whole in the Basque Country compared to summer 2019

In hotels, rural accommodation and tourist apartments as a whole in the Basque Country, the results for July, August and September 2020 reveal that the COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on the sector. Both visitor numbers and overnight stays were affected significantly, with values of 588,441 visitors and 1,244,676 overnight stays, representing a decrease of 46.4% in visitors and 48.5% in overnight stays.

There were contrasting trends in tourist activity across the provinces. Bizkaia felt the greatest impact of the measures adopted to combat the health crisis, with visitor numbers and overnight stays 57.4% and 56.4% lower than in summer 2019. Álava was next, with visitors down by 46.5% and overnight stays by 46.7%. Finally, in Gipuzkoa the decreases were very significant but less pronounced, with visitors falling by 33.3% and overnight stays by 40.7%.

As regards the origin of visitors during the summer months of 2020, the reduction in foreign tourists was particularly pronounced, with visitor numbers falling by 68% and overnight stays by 71.2%, while for Spanish holidaymakers the figures were 26.4% and 29.7%, respectively.

As a result, the bed occupancy rate dropped in the Basque Country as a whole by 28.8 percentage points, standing at 39.1% in summer 2020. By province, it was 33.0% in Álava this summer (20.5 percentage points below the previous summer), in Bizkaia it stood at 34.1%, after a year-on-year drop of 34.2 percentage points, and finally, in Gipuzkoa the bed occupancy rate was 46.5%, i.e. 26.8 percentage points lower than in summer 2019.

Rioja Alavesa and the Gipuzkoa Coast were the areas where overnight stays in hotels fell the least

An analysis by geographical area offers greater insight into the varying impact of the crisis, at least as regards hotel accommodation. In Bizkaia, clearly the worst affected province, the Bizkaia Coast was the area that fared the best in comparison to the rest of the province, both for visitor numbers (-41.4%) and overnight stays (-41.7%).

The situation in Álava falls midway between the other provinces, but Rioja Alavesa stands out as the area that has best withstood the crisis, with decreases under 40% in both visitor numbers (-37.7%) and overnight stays (-38.5%).

In Gipuzkoa, which recorded the least negative figures, the Gipuzkoa Coast area stands out with reductions of less than 30% in visitor numbers (-29.7%) and 35.2% in overnight stays, whilst the performances of both San Sebastián and its Metropolitan Area were also more than 10 points less negative than the average for the Basque Country, both for visitors (-29.6% and -36.8%, respectively), and overnight stays (-40.3% and -40.7 %, respectively).

RESULTS SEPTEMBER 2020

As regards tourist apartments during September 2020, visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 4,452 and 19,708, respectively. These figures represent a reduction of 45.4% for visitors and 32.8% for overnight stays, compared to September 2019. The decrease was particularly marked as regards people from abroad, with 81.4% fewer foreign visitors in September 2020 than in September of the previous year and 68.7% fewer overnight stays.

The average length of stay in tourist apartments in the Basque Country was 4.43 days in September 2020, above the average of 3.59 days in September 2019.

Finally, Bizkaia was the province where visitor numbers fell the most in September 2020 in comparison to the same month of the previous year. There was a 50.0% decrease, resulting in 7,040 overnight stays (37.2% fewer than the previous year). Gipuzkoa was next, with 42.7% fewer visitors and 38.3% fewer overnight stays. In Álava, visitor numbers fell by 32.2% and overnight stays by 17.4%, compared to September 2019.

September was the worst-performing month in summer 2020 for both visitor numbers and overnight stays in tourist establishments as a whole in the Basque Country

During September 2020, both the visitors and overnight stays recorded in tourist establishments as a whole in the Basque Country fell by 58.8%, with values of 141,977 visitors and 289,414 overnight stays. Visitor numbers fell by 44% in July and by 37.6% in August, compared to the same months in 2019, and overnight stays dropped by 48.3% and 40.7%, respectively.

At the provincial level, it is worth noting the year-on-year decrease (September 2020 compared to September 2019) in Bizkaia, with 66.6% fewer visitors, resulting in a 64.5% drop in overnight stays. The next worst decrease was in Álava, with visitors falling by 55.8% and overnight stays by 52.5%. Finally, in Gipuzkoa, there was a 50.5% drop in visitors and a 54.8% reduction in overnight stays.

In September, 15.1% of tourist accommodation remained closed

During the period marked by the Covid-19 health crisis, from March 2020 onwards, the trend in the number of closed tourist accommodation establishments reflects that the initial impact on the sector has gradually lessened, although in the summer months the percentage of closed establishments was still more than double that seen in the previous year. As such, the figure for establishments that were completely closed varied from 90.5% in April 2020 to 17.7% in July, 14.7% in August and 15.1% in September

Note: Eustat would like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated with this survey and for their effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, it has been possible to disseminate this information, enabling the effects on this sector of the measures adopted in order to combat COVID-19 to be quantified.

For further information:

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