Press release 25/02/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. JANUARY 2021

In January 2021, visitors at rural accommodation in the Basque Country fell by 83.3% and tourist apartments dropped by 59.2%

In terms of overnight stays, the decreases were 77.4% in the case of rural accommodation and 17.3% in the case of tourist apartments

In January 2021, there were 803 visitors and 3,328 overnight stays at rural accommodation in the Basque Country, a drop of 83.3% and 77.4% on January 2020, respectively, according to Eustat data.

The majority of people staying at rural accommodation were from the rest of Spain, accounting for 89.3% of the total. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the falls in visitor numbers were similar for people from the rest of Spain and those from abroad, at 83.2% and 84.0%, respectively. As for overnight stays, among people from the rest of Spain there was a fall year-on-year terms by 74.0% in January 2021, whereas among people from abroad the decrease was 91.6%.

The province where visitor numbers dropped the most was Álava, down 88.2% on January 2020, followed by Gipuzkoa with a year-on-year decrease of 84.4%. Lastly, in January of this year in Bizkaia, visitor numbers were down 75.7% compared to January of last year. As regards the number of overnight stays in January 2021, Gipuzkoa recorded the largest year-on-year downturn, at 82.1%. There were decreases of 74.7% in Álava and 64.9% in Bizkaia.

The average length of stay of 4.14 days at rural accommodation in the Basque Country as a whole was significantly higher in January 2021 than in January 2020 (3.07 days).

In the province of Álava, the difference was even greater, given that in January of this year the average stay was 5.01 days, whereas in January of last year it was 2.30 days. This figure also increased significantly in Bizkaia, where it went from 2.84 days in January 2020 to 4.11 days in January 2021. Furthermore, there was a rise in the average length of stay in Gipuzkoa, but it was more restrained, going from 3.42 days in January 2020 to 3.94 days in January of this year.

In January 2021, the bed and room occupation rates in the Basque Country as a whole were both very low, at 3.1% and 5.4% respectively. In year-on-year terms, the decreases stood 11.1 and 12.0 percentage points, respectively.

In January 2021, 31.4% of rural accommodation establishments remained closed every day of the month, compared to 26.5% in January of last year. The largest proportion of closed rural accommodation establishments was recorded in Bizkaia, with 37.4%, whereas the proportions in Álava and Gipuzkoa were 34% and 26%, respectively.

As regards tourist apartments during January 2021, visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 1,748 and 14,422, respectively. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the fall in visitor numbers stood at 59.2%, while the number of overnight stays dropped by 17.3%.

Visitors from within Spain fell by 53.7%, while foreign visitors were down 79.0%. In the case of overnight stays, visitors from within Spain decreased by 13.0% and foreign visitors fell by 30.5%.

By province the trend was not uniform. In Álava, visitor numbers at tourist apartments fell by 17.8% and overnight stays by 30.3%, compared to January 2020. Bizkaia registered a 60.5% drop in visitor numbers and a decrease of 43.2% in overnight stays, in year-on-year terms. Lastly, Gipuzkoa saw a different trend, given that while visitor numbers dropped by 70.7%, overnight stays increased by 28.5%.

The average length of stay in tourist apartments in the Basque Country rose to 8.25 days in January 2021, clearly exceeding the average of 4.07 days in January 2020.

By province, Gipuzkoa stood out with the highest average length of stay, reaching 14.8 days in January 2021 (it was 3.37 days in January 2020). It was followed by Álava, with an average length of stay of 9.82 days, lower than the 11.58 days January 2020 and, finally, Bizkaia, where the average length of stay was 4.14 days in January 2021, higher than the 2.88 days observed in January 2020.

The apartment occupancy rate in the Basque Country during January 2021, following a year-on-year decrease of 17.0 percentage points, stood at 35.5%. By province, in Álava it reached 42.2% (18.5 percentage points less than in January 2020); in Bizkaia it stood at 26.3% (following a drop of 19.6 percentage points); and, finally, in Gipuzkoa the apartment occupancy rate stood at 37.3% (12.9 percentage points down on the same month of the previous year).

In the Basque Country as a whole, 24.1% of apartments remained closed every day in January, 2.8 percentage points more than in January 2020. The proportion of apartments closed for the entire month stood at 30.8% in Gipuzkoa, 21.7% in Álava and 15.2% in Bizkaia. In the latter province, the proportion of closed apartments was lower than in January 2020.

Informative note

From January 2021, the data from this survey (ETR) will be published in two parts. Data on hotel establishments (or ETR_H) will be published first, and data on the other establishments included in the survey (rural accommodation and tourist apartments) will be published under the generic name ETR_eH.

Eustat would once again like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated with this survey for making this effort despite the extraordinary current circumstances. As a result, it has been possible to disseminate this information, with coverage of 97.3% in the case of rural accommodation and 95.4% for tourist apartments, 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