Press Release 22/03/2023
SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. February 2023
Visitor numbers rose by 7.5% in rural accommodation in the Basque Country and increased by 32.9% in tourist apartments in February 2023
Tourist hostels are included in the accommodation measured by the Survey, producing 8,414 visitors and 16,223 overnight stays in February
In rural accommodation in the Basque Country in February 2023, visitor numbers rose by 7.5% compared to the same month of the previous year, according to Eustat data.
After this year-on-year growth, the total number of visitors stood at 6,039. The number of overnight stays increased in year-on-year terms by 0.6% in February 2023, reaching a total of 12,286 overnight stays.
Visitors, overnight stays, average length of stay and bed occupancy rates in rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country. 2022
| | Visitors | Overnight stays | Average stay | Occupancy rates (%) |
| | | by seats | by rooms |
| | 2022 | p/p-1 (%) | 2022 | p/p-1 (%) | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | p.p. * | 2022 | p.p. * |
| BASQUE COUNTRY | 168.958 | 36,3 | 434.037 | 24,4 | 2,57 | 2,81 | 27,3 | 4,2 | 31,3 | 4,8 |
| State origin | 132.523 | 19,1 | 345.355 | 8,5 | 2,61 | 2,86 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 36.435 | 187,9 | 88.682 | 190,8 | 2,43 | 2,41 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Araba/Álava | 30.399 | 29,1 | 67.945 | 19,4 | 2,24 | 2,42 | 18,0 | 1,9 | 21,1 | 2,1 |
| State origin | 26.590 | 20,7 | 59.053 | 9,8 | 2,22 | 2,44 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 3.809 | 152,4 | 8.892 | 183,9 | 2,33 | 2,08 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bizkaia | 53.320 | 51,2 | 130.995 | 32,2 | 2,46 | 2,81 | 28,5 | 5,5 | 32,3 | 5,9 |
| State origin | 41.814 | 32,3 | 103.860 | 15,5 | 2,48 | 2,85 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 11.506 | 214,8 | 27.135 | 197,3 | 2,36 | 2,50 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gipuzkoa | 85.239 | 30,9 | 235.097 | 21,9 | 2,76 | 2,96 | 31,3 | 4,8 | 35,7 | 5,7 |
| State origin | 64.119 | 11,2 | 182.442 | 4,5 | 2,85 | 3,03 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 21.120 | 182,0 | 52.655 | 188,7 | 2,49 | 2,44 | - | - | - | - |
p.p.*= difference in percentage points on the same month of the previous year
Date January 24, 2023
Source: Eustat Tourist accommodating establishments survey
After rising by 12.2% in relation to February of the previous year, visitors from abroad accounted for 12.7% of the total number of visitors recorded in February 2023. In the year-on-year calculation, overnight stays, which represent 13.9% of the total, showed a decrease of 10.9% compared to February 2022.
By province, the year-on-year increases in visitor numbers in February 2023 reached 49.3% in Bizkaia and 4.5% in Gipuzkoa. In contrast, in Álava, the number of visitors fell by 24.2%. As regards overnight stays, growth of 57.7% was observed in Bizkaia, while in Álava and Gipuzkoa they fell by 22.1% and 10.0%, respectively.
The average length of stay in this type of establishment in the Basque Country was 2.03 days in February, a figure higher than the average length of stay of 2.17 days observed in the same month of 2022. The average length of stay refers to the number of days that, on average, travellers remain in each of the establishments where they stay overnight, and not the total length of their stay in the Basque Country.
Bed and room occupancy rates experienced a year-on-year increase of 0.9 and 0.7 percentage points respectively, the bed occupancy rate standing at 12.4% and that of rooms at 15.3%.
In relation to tourist apartments, during February 2023 they welcomed a total of 8,046 visitors, giving rise to 37,524 overnight stays. Compared to the previous February, the increases were 32.9% in the case of visitor numbers and 30.2% in that of overnight stays.
Each of the accommodation units offered under a business operating unit, managed under the block or combined mode, is referred to as a tourist apartment. Private dwellings offered, marketed or temporarily relinquished for reasons of tourism are not included under the heading of dwellings for tourism use.
Visitors, overnight stays, average length of stay and bed occupancy rates in tourist apartments of the Basque Country. 2022
| | Visitors | Overnight stays | Average stay | Occupancy rates (%) |
| | | by seats | by apartaments |
| | 2022 | p/p-1 (%) | 2022 | p/p-1 (%) | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | p.p. * | 2022 | p.p. * |
| BASQUE COUNTRY | 141.789 | 77,0 | 536.084 | 49,2 | 3,78 | 4,48 | 36,0 | 7,9 | 62,9 | 11,4 |
| State origin | 95.468 | 47,8 | 352.679 | 27,5 | 3,69 | 4,28 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 46.322 | 198,2 | 183.404 | 122,0 | 3,96 | 5,32 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Araba/Álava | 14.243 | 51,8 | 94.270 | 21,0 | 6,62 | 8,31 | 24,3 | 1,4 | 66,2 | 8,2 |
| State origin | 12.353 | 43,8 | 73.749 | 15,6 | 5,97 | 7,42 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 1.890 | 139,3 | 20.521 | 45,2 | 10,86 | 17,90 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bizkaia | 91.968 | 100,6 | 220.502 | 83,0 | 2,40 | 2,63 | 36,8 | 10,4 | 51,4 | 6,6 |
| State origin | 60.642 | 65,8 | 137.434 | 46,4 | 2,27 | 2,57 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 31.326 | 238,1 | 83.067 | 212,0 | 2,65 | 2,87 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gipuzkoa | 35.578 | 42,9 | 221.312 | 37,6 | 6,22 | 6,46 | 44,0 | 10,6 | 70,8 | 18,1 |
| State origin | 22.473 | 15,7 | 141.497 | 18,9 | 6,30 | 6,13 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 13.105 | 139,2 | 79.816 | 90,8 | 6,09 | 7,64 | - | - | - | - |
p.p.*= difference in percentage points on the same month of the previous year
Date January 24, 2023
Source: Eustat Tourist accommodating establishments survey
Visitors from abroad accounted for 25.7% of the total number of visitors and 29.6% of the total number of overnight stays in tourist apartments in the Basque Country, after registering year-on-year increases of 35.6% and 26.4%, respectively, during February 2023.
The average length of stay in tourist apartments was 4.66 days in February 2023, below that obtained in February 2022, which stood at 4.76 days in the Basque Country as a whole. The average length of stay in this type of establishment stood at 2.66 days in Bizkaia, 7.61 days in Gipuzkoa and 10.03 days in Álava.
The bed occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 31.5%, following an increase of 3.0 percentage points in relation to February 2022. The apartment occupancy rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to stand at 60.2%.
For the first time, this month data is published on the Tourist hostels in the Basque country, which are defined in Law 13/2016, of 28 July, on Tourism, as establishments which professionally and on a regular basis offer or provide the general public with accommodation services in rooms by bed, mainly in shared rooms or rooms with multiple capacity, with or without other complementary dining services. In February, 8,414 visitors have been recorded in Basque hostels, which have led to 16,223 overnight stays, with growth of 26.6% in visitor numbers and 35.9% in overnight stays compared to February 2022. The average length of stay in this type of accommodation in February 2023 was 1.93 days and the bed occupancy rate was 23.3%.
Informative note
The response rate for the Survey on Tourist Establishments in February 2023 was 96.5% for Rural Accommodation, 89.0% for Tourist Apartments and 90.1% for Tourist Hostels. 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