Press Release 23/08/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. JULY 2021

In July 2021, year-on-year growth in the number of visitors and overnight stays in rural accommodation in the Basque Country was over 35%

The increase in overnight stays exceeded 40% in the case of tourist apartments

In July, a total of 19,103 visitors and 60,229 overnight stays in rural accommodation were recorded in the Basque Country, representing increases compared to the same month of the previous year of 35.9% and 36.7%, respectively, according to Eustat data.

The increase in the number of visitors and overnight stays compared to the previous month, June 2021, stood at 83.8% in the case of visitors and 151.5% in the case of overnight stays.

The vast majority of people staying in rural accommodation in the Basque Country were from the rest of Spain: 16,916 visitors compared to 2,187 from abroad. In relation to July of the previous year, the number of visitors from the rest of Spain was up 33.8% and the number of visitors from abroad rose by 54.7%. Growth in the number of overnight stays was more even. The year-on-year rise in the number of overnight stays of people from the rest of Spain was 36.6% and 38.2% in the case of foreign visitors.

Bizkaia was the province where visitor numbers increased the most compared to July 2020, by 56.6%, followed by Álava with 38.9%. Lastly, in Gipuzkoa, visitor numbers were up 25.2%. The year-on-year trend in overnight stays was also positive in all three provinces, although in this case Gipuzkoa saw the largest growth, 42.6%, followed by Bizkaia with 37.7% and Álava with 14.6%.

Compared to the previous month, June 2021, visitor numbers in rural accommodation in the Basque Country increased by 83.8% and overnight stays were up 151.5%. By province, visitor numbers increased by 128.4% in Bizkaia, 80.2% in Álava and 65.6% in Gipuzkoa. The number of overnight stays grew by 187.1% in Bizkaia, 149.6% in Gipuzkoa and 104.4% in Álava, in month-on-month terms.

The average length of stay was 3.15 days in July, slightly higher than the 3.13 days observed in the same month of the previous year. In June 2021, the average length of stay in rural accommodation was lower, at 2.30 days. Trends in average length of stay varied by province. In Álava, it went from 3.05 days in July 2020 to 2.52 days in July 2021, and in Bizkaia it fell from 3.30 days a year ago to 2.90 this July. In Gipuzkoa, on the other hand, the average length of stay went from 3.08 in July 2020 to 3.51 days this July.

The room occupancy rate stood at 43.6% in July, registering an increase in respect of July last year of 8.8 percentage points. By province, the occupancy rates were: 24.9% in Álava, 42.8% in Bizkaia and 53.2% in Gipuzkoa. Likewise, following a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percentage points, the room occupancy rate in rural accommodation in the Basque Country in July stood at 47.1%. It was 29.0% in Álava, 46.4% in Bizkaia and 56.7% in Gipuzkoa.

Compared to the previous month, June 2021, bed and room occupancy rates increased by 24.6 points.

In July 2021, 14.6% of rural accommodation establishments remained closed every day of the month in the Basque Country as a whole. The previous year this percentage was 18.6%. By province, 14.5% of rural accommodation establishments in Álava were closed in July. In Bizkaia it was 13.3% and in Gipuzkoa it was 8.9%.

TOURIST APARTMENTS

As regards tourist apartments, during July 2021, the number of visitors and overnight stays totalled 10,794 and 39,059, respectively. Compared to July of the previous year, the number of visitors increased by 35.9% and the overnight stays were up 40.7%.

The number of visitors from within Spain was up 37.0% in year-on-year terms and foreign visitor numbers rose by 32.6%. In the case of overnight stays, there was an increase of 45.0% for visitors from within Spain and of 27.5% for those from abroad.

By province, performance in relation to July last year was uneven. Visitor numbers increased by 51.0% in Bizkaia and 33.8% in Gipuzkoa, while in Álava there was a 9.3% decrease. Overnight stays were up 45.9% in Bizkaia, 42.2% in Gipuzkoa and 28.4% in Álava.

Compared to the previous month, June 2021, the number of visitors in tourist apartments in the Basque Country rose by 78.1%, while the number of overnight stays also grew, by 63.4%. All provinces experienced growth, but Bizkaia took the lead with a month-on-month increase of 96.0% in the number of visitors and 126.6% in overnight stays. In Gipuzkoa, they rose by 65.9% and 40.5%, respectively, and in Álava they were up 45.6% and 31.5%.

The average length of stay in tourist apartments in July stood at 3.62 days, which was higher than the average of 3.49 days observed in July 2020. In June 2021, the average length of stay stood at 3.94 days.

The average stay at tourist apartments in July varied across the provinces. In Álava, the average length of stay went from 5.22 days in July 2020 to 7.38 days in July 2021, in Gipuzkoa it went from 3.67 days to 3.90 days, while in Bizkaia it fell from 2.84 days observed last year to 2.75 this year.

In July 2021, the apartment occupancy rate in the Basque Country stood at 50.3%, after a year-on-year downturn of 3.7 percentage points. By province, the rate was 64.2% in Bizkaia, 59.9% in Álava and 39.6% in Gipuzkoa.

The bed occupancy rate, on the other hand, was up 5.1 percentage points to 35.8% for the Basque Country as a whole. This rate was 42.4% in Bizkaia, 36.2% in Gipuzkoa and, lastly, 26.4% in Álava.

In the Basque Country as a whole, 12.4% of apartments remained closed every day in July 2021, the same percentage as in the previous year and 4.3 percentage points less than in the previous month. The proportion of apartments closed every day of the month stood at 16.7% in Álava, 11.8% in Bizkaia and 10.9% in Gipuzkoa.

Informative note

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in July was 93.2% for Rural Accommodation and 76.1% 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