Press Release 26/10/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. September 2021

Rural accommodation and tourist apartments doubled their occupation in September 2021 compared to the same month of 2020

During the summer (July, August and September), occupation increased by more than 50% in respect of summer 2020 in both types of establishments.

In September rural accommodation in the Basque Country registered a total of 15,399 visitors and 40,321 overnight stays, representing increases in respect of the same month of the previous year of 104.7% and 102.5%, respectively, according to Eustat data.

Spain was the origin of 83.4% of visitors and 86.0% of overnight stays in rural accommodation in the Basque Country, following year-on-year increases of 84.2% and 87.0%, respectively. Visitors from abroad, however, despite having more than tripled in respect of September 2020, only accounted for 16.6% in the case of visitor numbers and 14% in that of overnight stays.

By province, the year-on-year increases in visitor numbers were 108.9% in Álava, 107.3% in Gipuzkoa and 97.4% in Bizkaia. As regards overnight stays, the increases stood at 132.9% in Bizkaia, 94.1% in Gipuzkoa and, finally, 83.4% in Álava.

The average length of stay in this type of establishment was 2.62 days, a value close to the average length of stay of 2.65 days observed in September 2020.

Bed and room occupancy rates saw year-on-year increases of 13.9 and 14.8 percentage points, respectively.

As regards tourist apartments, during September 2021 visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 9,266 and 39,161, respectively. Compared to September of the previous year, the number of visitors increased by 108.1% and overnight stays were up 98.7%.

In the Basque Country as a whole, the majority of visitors continued to be from Spain, representing 77.4% of the total. Overnight stays for people from Spain accounted for 72.7% of the total. Both variables showed very positive values in respect of September 2020, up 83.5% and 72.3%, respectively. Visitor numbers and overnights stays for people from abroad, despite having recovered strongly, represented 22.6% and 27.3% of total visitor numbers and overnight stays in tourist apartments in the Basque Country.

The average length of stay: was 4.23 days in September 2021, below that obtained in September 2020, which stood at 4.43 days. At the provincial level, the year-on-year differences attained unequal values. Of particular note is the average length of stay of 7.94 days in Álava, which contrasts with the 2.53 days in Bizkaia. Lastly, Gipuzkoa, posted a value of 6.22 days.

The apartment occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 65.3%, representing an increase of 15.8 percentage points in relation to September 2020.

Balance for summer 2021 (July, August and September)

At the Basque Country level, visitor numbers in rural accommodation rose to 63,642 during Summer 2021. In respect of the same period of 2020, this figure represented an increase of 59.4% and almost equalled (down 1.1%) those registered in Summer 2019, before COVID-19.

Overnight stays performed in a similar manner, standing at 49.4% above those observed during Summer 2020, although still 5.0% below those registered in Summer 2019.

In the three summers analysed, the average length of stay maintained similar values in the Basque Country as a whole. In Summer 2021 the average length of stay was 3.00 days, in Summer 2020 it stood at 3.20 days and in the Summer before COVID-19 the figure was 3.12 days.

In the case of tourist apartments, the balance for summer 2021 for the Basque Country as a whole closed, in respect of 2020, with an increase of 58.9% in visitor numbers and 60.3% in overnight stays. Therefore, the values obtained were above those registered in Summer 2019. In 2021 visitor numbers were 11.7% higher than in 2019 and the number of overnight increased by 16.8%.

This summer the average length of stay was 3.84 days, higher than the 3.80 days in Summer 2020, and above that of 2019, which stood at 3.67 days.

Informative note

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in September 2021 was 94.2% for Rural Accommodation and 84.2% 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