Press Release 23/05/2022

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. April 2022

Visitor numbers at rural accommodation and tourist apartments in the Basque Country in April 2022 exceeded those recorded in April 2019, prior to COVID

The rise in foreign visitor numbers and overnight stays was particularly significant

Rural accommodation in the Basque Country registered 15,095 visitors and 36,482 overnight stays in April 2022, figures that translate into year-on-year increases of 140.4% and 82.3%, respectively, according to Eustat data. In April 2019, prior to COVID and including Easter in its entirety, the number of visitors stood at 15,088, while overnight stays totalled 37,927.

Spain was the origin of 86.2% of visitors and 86.3% of overnight stays registered at rural accommodation in the Basque Country in April 2022. However, as in previous months, there was particularly significant growth in foreign visitor numbers and overnight stays, with 1,966 more visitors and 4,486 more overnight stays recorded than in April of the previous year.

Year-on-year increases in April 2022 for visitor numbers and overnight stays in Álava were 74.3% and 36.4%, respectively. In Bizkaia, visitor numbers were up by 112.2% and overnight stays by 55.2%. Lastly, in Gipuzkoa the increases obtained in relation to April 2021 stood at 200.1% for visitor numbers and 121.0% for overnight stays.

The average length of stay at this type of establishment was 2.42 days in April 2022, lower than the 3.19 days observed in the same month of 2021.

Bed and room occupancy rates experienced a year-on-year increase of over 11 percentage points, with the bed occupancy rate standing at 27.3% and that of rooms at 31.1%.

As regards tourist apartments, in April 2022, visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 11,430 and 42,689, respectively. In relation to April of the previous year, the year-on-year increase in visitor numbers stood at 177.8% and that of overnight stays at 89.3%. In April 2019, prior to COVID and including Easter in its entirety, figures for both visitor numbers and overnight stays were lower: 8,184 visitors and 26,730 overnight stays.

The number of visitors from abroad represented 28.3% of the total number of visitors and 30.9% of overnight stays at tourist apartments in the Basque Country during April 2022, following some significant year-on-year increases of 3,033 in the number of visitors and 9,867 in overnight stays.

The average length of stay for this type of establishment was 3.74 days in April 2022, below that obtained in April 2021, which stood at 5.48 days.

At provincial level, the average length of stay in April 2022 was longer than 6 days in Álava and Gipuzkoa, while in Bizkaia it stood at 2.25 days.

The bed occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 37.1%, representing an increase of 15.6 percentage points in relation to April 2021. The apartment occupancy rate, following a year-on-year rise of 24.3 percentage points, stood at 68.9%.

Balance for Easter 2022

The number of visitors and overnight stays registered at rural accommodation in the Basque Country during Easter 2022 were 19.2% and 15.5% higher than those observed during Easter last year. Of particular note were the increases in people from abroad, although they still only accounted for around 10% of the total.

In Álava, the rise in visitor numbers during Easter 2022 stood at 12.4% compared to the previous year and that of overnight stays at 6.2%. In Bizkaia, visitor numbers and overnight stays were up 39.8% and 7.7%, respectively. In Gipuzkoa, however, the number of visitors increased by 9.6%, while overnight stays rose by 24.7%.

The occupancy rate at rural accommodation in the Basque Country during Easter 2022 was 66.0% in the case of beds, 4.5 percentage points higher than the previous year, and 69.7% in the case of rooms, 3.4 percentage points above the rate observed during Easter 2021.

As regards tourist apartments in the Basque Country, during Easter 2022, the number of visitors stood at 2,227 and overnight stays totalled 8,502, representing increases in respect of the same period of the previous year of 62.6% and 67.8%, respectively. Around 24% of visitors and overnight stays corresponded to people from abroad, well above the figure observed the year before.

By province, growth in visitor numbers stood at 33.5% in Álava, 1.6% in Gipuzkoa and 132.0% in Bizkaia. The number of overnight stays rose by 26.0% in Álava, 38.2% in Gipuzkoa and a remarkable 152.7% in Bizkaia.

The occupancy rate reached 62.4% in the case of beds and 92.9% in that of apartments, 21.6 percentage points and 30.7 percentage points higher than the rates observed during Easter 2021, respectively.

Notes

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in April 2022 was 98.0% for Rural Accommodation and 82.1% 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