Press Release 24/06/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. May 2021

Visitor numbers were down 26.7% in rural accommodation in the Basque Country in May 2021 in relation to April and dropped 1.9% in tourist apartments

19.5% of rural accommodation and 15.9% of tourist apartments remained closed throughout the whole May

In May 2021, there were a total of 4,604 visitors and 11,227 overnight stays in rural accommodation in the Basque Country, representing increases in respect of April 2021 of 26.7% and 43.9%, respectively, according to Eustat data. When interpreting these variations it should be taken into account that data for April includes the whole Easter week.

Movement restrictions have been variable after the state of emergency was decreed on 14 March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As accommodation activity was reduced to healthcare and other essential staff in May 2020, most series were not published due to statistical secrecy safeguards and statistical quality criteria, meaning that no year-on-year comparisons can be drawn with May 2020. As a result, comparisons are made with April 2021.

The vast majority of people staying in rural accommodation in the Basque Country were from the rest of Spain: 4,311 visitors from the rest of Spain compared to 293 from abroad. In relation to the previous month April 2021, these figures represent a decrease of 30% in the number of visitors from the rest of Spain and an increase of 144.2% in the number of visitors from abroad. It should be taken into account that the state of emergency restricting international travel was lifted on 10 May 2021. In the case of overnight stays, the number fell in month-on-month terms for people from the rest of Spain (down 46.9%), but increased considerably for those from abroad (up 66.5%).

Álava saw the largest decrease in visitors, down 44.7% on the previous month, followed by Bizkaia with a month-on-month decrease of 33.6%. In Gipuzkoa, visitor numbers fell by 10.9%. Furthermore, the number of overnight stays experienced a downward trend in month-on-month terms in all three provinces: down 59.7% in Álava, 47.1% in Bizkaia and 34.4% in Gipuzkoa.

The average length of stay observed in May 2021 reached 2.44 days, as compared to 3.19 days in the previous month. The average length of stay went from 2.88 days in April to 2.10 in May in Álava; from 2.97 to 2.36 days in Bizkaia; and, lastly, from 3.53 days to 2.60 in Gipuzkoa.

The room occupancy rate stood at 12.3% in May, following a decrease in respect of the previous month of 6.9 percentage points. By province, the occupancy rates were: 8.8% Álava, 12.5% in Bizkaia and 14.3% in Gipuzkoa. Likewise, following a month-on-month decrease of 7.2 percentage points, the bed occupancy rate in rural accommodation in the Basque Country in May stood at 8.9%. It was 6.3% in Álava, 8.7% in Bizkaia and 10.3% in Gipuzkoa.

In May 2021, 19.5% of rural accommodation remained closed every day of the month, slightly above the 18.0% registered in April. By province, 15.7% of rural establishments were closed for the whole month of May in Álava, 19.6% in Gipuzkoa and, lastly, 22.3% in Bizkaia.

TOURIST APARTMENTS

As regards tourist apartments, during May 2021 the number of visitors and overnight stays totalled 4,036 and 21,050, respectively. Compared to the previous month, there was a 1.9% decrease in visitor numbers and overnight stays were down 6.7%.

The number of visitors from within Spain was down 11.9% in month-on-month terms, while foreign visitor numbers increased by 190.8%. In the case of overnight stays, visitors from within Spain decreased by 12.4% and foreign visitors were up by 26.4%. In May the average length of stay stood at 5.22 days, slightly above the 5.48 days observed in the previous month.

By province, performance in relation April 2021 was uneven. Thus, while Gipuzkoa saw a decrease in visitor numbers of 0.3%, in Álava the drop stood at 26.5%. In Bizkaia, however, numbers rose by 4.8%. The total number of overnight stays recorded in May 2021 was less than the number in April, down 9.9% in Álava and 8.8% in Gipuzkoa, while in Bizkaia there was an increase of 0.9%.

These figures show an uneven trend in the average length of stay at tourist apartments in the Basque Country: in Álava it rose from 8.96 days in April to 10.97 days in May; in Bizkaia it was down slightly (2.73 days in April and 2.63 days in May), and in Gipuzkoa, the difference went from 7.90 days in April to 7.23 days in May.

In May 2021, the apartment occupancy rate in the Basque Country stood at 42.3%. By province, it was up 50.5% in Álava, 42.5% in Gipuzkoa and in Bizkaia it was only 35.4%. The bed occupancy rate was lower, at 19.7% for the Basque Country as a whole. By province, in Gipuzkoa the bed occupancy rate was 23.5%, in Álava it was 18.6% and, lastly, in Bizkaia it was 16.0%.

In the Basque Country as a whole, 15.9% of apartments remained closed every day in May 2021, 2.4 percentage points more than in the previous month. The proportion of apartments closed every day of the month stood at 16.7% in Álava (the same as in April), 16.1% in Gipuzkoa (0.3 percentage points lower than in April) and, lastly, 15.2% in Bizkaia (8.9 percentage points more than the proportion observed in April).

Informative note

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments was 97.7% for Rural Accommodation and 92.9% for Tourist Apartments. Eustat would like to thank all establishments that participated in this survey for their effort.

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