Press release 22/05/2023

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Hotels. April 2023

Overnight stays in hotel establishments in the Basque Country rose by 15.6% in April 2023

The average daily rate was 99.02 euros in April 2023 in the Basque Country, which represented a rise of 11.4% in respect of April 2022

In April 2023, visitor numbers at hotel establishments in the Basque Country increased by 11.8% and overnight stays were up 15.6% in year-on-year terms, according to Eustat data. The 322,584 registered visitors gave rise to a total of 618,107 overnight stays.

Foreign tourists accounted for 43.9% of visitors and 44.1% of overnight stays, following rises of 26.4% in the case of visitors and 28.1% in that of overnight stays. In turn, the number of visitors and overnight stays from the rest of Spain increased in year-on-year terms by 2.6% and 7.3% respectively.

In Álava, there were 42,811 visitors and 80,612 overnight stays, 16.9% and 18.6% more than in April of the previous year. In Bizkaia, growth reached 10.2% in the case of visitors and 14.9% in that of overnight stays, with a total of 144,617 visitors and 279,090 overnight stays. In Gipuzkoa, 135,156 visitors were recorded in April 2023 (12.0% more than in April 2022) and there were 258,405 overnight stays (15.3% more than in the same month of the previous year).

By provincial capital, visitor numbers rose by 23.5% in Vitoria-Gasteiz, 13.0% in Bilbao and 11.6% in San Sebastián. Likewise, the increase in overnight stays compared to April of the previous year reached 25.4% in Vitoria-Gasteiz, 15.9% in Bilbao and 15.3% in San Sebastián.

The average length of stay in hotel establishments in the Basque Country during April 2023 was 1.92 days higher than that obtained in the same month of 2022, which was 1.85 days.

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.

The occupancy rate in April 2023 for the Basque Country as a whole was 59.0% in the case of beds and 68.2% in that of rooms. In relation to April 2022, the increases were 5.5 and 6.0 percentage points, respectively.

Profitability, measured using the ADR or average daily rate (applied to a double room with a bathroom offered as room only accommodation), was 99.02 euros in April 2023 in the Basque Country, which was a rise of 11.4% in respect of April 2022. In the case of Gipuzkoa, the ADR reached 107.39 euros, in Bizkaia it was 95.99 euros and in Álava it stood at 83.92 euros. By provincial capital, the differences were greater, given that the ADR was 126.97 euros in San Sebastián, 105.86 euros in Bilbao and, lastly, 68.86 euros in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The RevPar, or average revenue per available room, was 67.51 euros in hotel establishments in the Basque Country in April 2023, 22.2% higher than that obtained in the same month of the previous year.

Balance for Easter 2023

Overnight stays registered at hotel establishments in the Basque Country this Easter, between Thursday and Sunday (4 nights), increased by 0.6%, reaching a value of 108,118, which accounted for 17.5% of the total number of visitors registered in April. The 51,450 visitors registered represented a decrease of 1.0% in respect of those observed the previous year, when Easter was one week later; in the month as a whole, Easter visitors accounted for 15.9% of the monthly total.

In year-on-year terms, bed and room occupancy rates for the Basque Country as a whole stood at 76.3% and 81.4%, respectively. These percentages represented a slight decrease of 2.6 percentage points in the case of beds and 0.5 points in that of rooms.

At provincial level, the year-on-year variations in the bed occupancy rate, in percentage points, ranged from -1.3 points in Gipuzkoa, -2.1 in Álava and down to -3.6 points in Bizkaia. Occupancy rates for rooms also posted negative values, the variations being -1.0 points in Álava, -0.7 in Gipuzkoa and -0.2 in Bizkaia.

Foreign tourists accounted for 35.4% of the total number of visitors and 33.8% of overnight stays, increasing their numbers by 11.2% and 16.7%, respectively, compared to Easter 2022. Domestic tourism registered lower values than those of the previous year, with decreases of 6.6% in visitor numbers and 6.0% in overnight stays.

By province, the performance of this Easter compared to that of the previous year was disparate: visitor numbers increased by 3.8% in Álava and by 0.8% in Gipuzkoa, however in Bizkaia they were down 3.9% The number of visitors rose by 4.3% in Álava and 2.1% in Gipuzkoa, but fell by 1.7% in Bizkaia.

In the case of each of the provincial capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz saw an increase of 4.7% in visitor numbers and of 11.9% in overnight stays. San Sebastián registered 0.9% more visitors and 3.7% more overnight stays. Lastly, in Bilbao, visitor numbers fell by 0.2% while overnight stays were up 2.6%.

Informative note

The coverage of the ETR for Hotels in April 2023 was 90.9%. Eustat would like to thank all establishments that participated in this survey for their effort.

Data browser for tourism in the Basque Country. Hotel establishments

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62