Press Release 24/01/2022

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. December 2021

Visitor numbers at rural accommodation and tourist apartments in the Basque Country in 2021 increased by around 80% in relation to 2020

The room occupancy rate at both apartments and rural accommodation was higher in December 2021 than in December 2019, prior to COVID-19

The 2021 annual balance for rural accommodation in the Basque Country saw significant improvement in occupancy variables compared to 2020. With 123,935 visitors and 348,836 overnight stays, the year-on-year increases stood at 81.8% and 69.8%, respectively, according to Eustat data.

In 2021 as a whole, the occupancy levels recorded in 2019, prior to COVID-19, were not completely recovered, reaching 74.2% of visitor numbers and 80.8% of overnight stays registered at that time.

Álava was the province with the highest annual growth in 2021, both in terms of the number of visitors, 112.6%, and the number of overnight stays, 88.4%. In Bizkaia, visitor numbers increased by 87.7% and overnight stays were up 73.6%. Lastly, in Gipuzkoa, the number of visitors and overnight stays in 2021 as a whole rose by 69.9% and 63.3%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Foreign visitors accounted for 10.2% of total visitor numbers at this type of establishment in the Basque Country in 2021. This percentage was slightly higher than the 9.1% obtained in 2020, but well below the 20.4% of visitors from abroad recorded in 2019.

In 2021, the average length of stay at rural accommodation in the Basque Country was 2.81 days, lower than the 3.01 days registered in 2020, but above the average length of stay of 2.58 days in 2019.

The occupancy rate rose to 23.1% in the case of beds and 26.4% in the case of rooms. In relation to the occupancy rates observed at rural accommodation in the Basque Country in 2020, there was an increase of 4.7 and 3.8 percentage points, respectively.

The 2021 annual balance for tourist apartments in the Basque Country also saw significant improvement with regard to 2020. With a total of 80,127 visitors and 359,224 overnight stays for the year as a whole, the year-on-year increases in relation to 2020 stood at 76.0% and 75.3%, respectively.

Comparing these occupancy figures with those observed in 2019, it can be seen that the number of visitors recorded in 2021 amounted to 89.0% of those registered in 2019. The number of overnight stays in 2021, however, was higher, representing 106.5% of those observed in 2019. It should be noted that the supply of establishments of this type in the Basque Country as a whole has grown over the last two years, going from 787 available apartments (on any given day in 2019) to 1,303 in 2021.

At provincial level, both the number of visitors and overnight stays recorded in 2021 overall increased in respect of those recorded in 2020 to varying degrees. Total visitor numbers at tourist apartments in Bizkaia more than doubled compared to the previous year, and rose by 56.4% in Gipuzkoa and 36% in Álava. The increase in the number of overnight stays was even more disparate, standing at 132.5% in Gipuzkoa, 63.9% in Bizkaia and, lastly, 25.1% in Álava.

People from abroad accounted for 19.4% of the total number of visitors registered at this type of establishment in the Basque Country in 2021. This percentage was slightly higher than the 18.3% obtained in 2020, but below the 33.0% that foreign visitors represented in 2019.

In 2021, bed and apartment occupancy rates surpassed those obtained in 2020 by 5.5 and 3.5 percentage points, standing at 28.1% and 51.5%, respectively. The figures for 2019, before the pandemic, were higher, with the occupancy rate reaching 32.7% in the case of beds and 63.7% in that of apartments.

December 2021

The revival of rural accommodation activity continued in respect of the same month of the previous year. In December 2021, the year-on-year increase in visitor numbers was 773.2%, reaching a total value of 8,409. Overnight stays were up 795.3% in December 2021 in relation to December 2020, rising to 26,412.

Spain was the origin of 91.0% of visitors and 92.9% of overnight stays recorded at rural accommodation in the Basque Country in December 2021. Although foreign visitors were on the rise in year-on-year terms, in December they only represented 9.0% of total visitor numbers and 7.1% of total overnight stays.

By province, the year-on-year increases in December were particularly high in Álava, reaching 2,155 visitors and 5,321 overnight stays, which, in relative terms, were rises of 1,428.4% and 933.2%, respectively. In Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, the year-on-year increase in visitor numbers stood at 616.7% and 760.7% in December 2021, registering 4,085 and 2,169 visitors, respectively. As regards overnight stays, in Gipuzkoa they rose to 13,943, 760.1% more than in December 2020, and in Bizkaia 7,148, 778.1% higher than the figure reached in December of the previous year.

The average length of stay in the Basque Country at this type of establishment was 3.14 days in December, a value lower than the average length of stay of 3.06 days observed in the same month of 2020, but above the 2.37 days registered in December 2019.

Bed and room occupancy rates experienced a year-on-year increase of 17.7 and 19.4 percentage points, respectively, the bed occupancy rate standing at 20.5% and that of rooms at 23.8%.

As regards tourist apartments, during December 2021 visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 7,682 and 35,202, respectively. In relation to December of the previous year, the number of visitors rose by 245.6% and overnight stays were up 115.3%. Comparing these values with those obtained in December 2019, it can be seen that they represented 120.9% of visitor numbers for that month and 159.3% of overnight stays.

The number of foreign visitors, despite having recovered strongly, accounted for 21.45% and 26.9% of total visitor numbers and overnight stays at tourist apartments in the Basque Country. Both variables showed significant year-on-year growth: 577.2% in the case of visitor numbers and 213.3% in the case of overnight stays.

In December 2021 the average length of stay was 4.58 days, which was below the 7.36 days obtained in December 2020, but above the 3.48 days registered in December 2019.

At provincial level, the average length of stay in December 2021 stood at 9.06 days in Álava and at 9.38 days in Gipuzkoa, whereas in Bizkaia it was 2.23 days.

The apartment occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 61.4%, representing an increase of 22.3 percentage points in relation to December 2020 and 8.1 if we compare it with December 2019.

Informative note

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in December 2021 was 73.9% for Rural Accommodation and 76.4% 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