Press Release 22/06/2023
SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. May 2023
Overnight stays rose by 2.8% in rural accommodation and 21.3% in tourist apartments in the Basque Country in May 2023
Tourist hostels also recorded an increase of 20.9% in overnight stays
In rural accommodation in the Basque Country in May 2023, visitor numbers rose by 1.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, and overnight stays increased by 2.8%. With this year-on-year growth, in May 2023 the number of visitors reached 14,507 and the number of overnight stays stood at 31,347.
Visitors, overnight stays, average length of stay and bed occupancy rates in rural tourism establishments in the Basque Country. May 2023
| | Visitors | Overnight stays | Average stay | Occupancy rates (%) |
| | | by seats | by rooms |
| | 05/2023 | m/m-12 (%) | 05/2023 | m/m-12 (%) | 05/2023 | 05/2022 | 05/2023 | p.p. * | 05/2023 | p.p. * |
| BASQUE COUNTRY | 14.507 | 1,2 | 31.347 | 2,8 | 2,16 | 2,13 | 22,7 | 1,0 | 27,5 | 1,8 |
| State origin | 9.433 | -10,5 | 21.391 | -9,0 | 2,27 | 2,23 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 5.074 | 33,6 | 9.956 | 42,1 | 1,96 | 1,84 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Araba/Álava | 2.569 | -4,1 | 5.280 | -1,5 | 2,06 | 2,00 | 15,1 | -0,8 | 19,2 | 0,8 |
| State origin | 1.954 | -21,4 | 3.811 | -23,8 | 1,95 | 2,01 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 615 | 220,3 | 1.469 | 304,7 | 2,39 | 1,89 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bizkaia | 4.098 | -5,7 | 8.288 | 4,2 | 2,02 | 1,83 | 20,3 | 0,7 | 23,5 | -0,6 |
| State origin | 2.968 | -5,0 | 6.392 | 5,0 | 2,15 | 1,95 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 1.130 | -7,3 | 1.896 | 1,5 | 1,68 | 1,53 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gipuzkoa | 7.840 | 7,1 | 17.779 | 3,4 | 2,27 | 2,35 | 28,6 | 2,6 | 35,0 | 4,5 |
| State origin | 4.511 | -8,5 | 11.188 | -9,9 | 2,48 | 2,52 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 3.329 | 39,5 | 6.591 | 38,1 | 1,98 | 2,00 | - | - | - | - |
p.p.*= difference in percentage points on the same month of the previous year
m/m12 Rate of year-on-year change in the last observed month (m) compared to the same month of the previous year (m-12)
Date June 22, 2023
Source: Eustat Tourist accommodating establishments survey
After rising by 33.6% in relation to May of the previous year, visitors from abroad accounted for 35.0% of the total number of visitors in May 2023 in rural accommodation in the Basque Country. As regards overnight stays, those by visitors from abroad represented 31.8% of the total, with an increase of 42.1% compared to May 2022.
By province, the year-on-year increases in visitor numbers in May 2023 reached 7.1% in Gipuzkoa, while there were decreases of 4.1% in Álava and 5.7% in Bizkaia. Overnight stays increased by 4.2% in Bizkaia, and by 3.4% in Gipuzkoa, while they decreased by 1.5% in Álava.
The average length of stay in this type of establishment in the Basque Country was 2.16 days during May, a figure slightly higher than the average length of stay of 2.13 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 1.0 and 1.8 percentage points respectively, the bed occupancy rate standing at 22.7% and that of rooms at 27.5%.
In relation to tourist apartments, in May 2023 there was a total of 13,486 visitors, giving rise to 48,912 overnight stays. Compared to May of the previous year, there was a 31% increase in the case of visitor numbers and 21.3% 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. May 2023
| | Visitors | Overnight stays | Average stay | Occupancy rates (%) |
| | | by seats | by apartaments |
| | 05/2023 | m/m-12 (%) | 05/2023 | m/m-12 (%) | 05/2023 | 05/2022 | 05/2023 | p.p. * | 05/2023 | p.p. * |
| BASQUE COUNTRY | 13.486 | 31,0 | 48.912 | 21,3 | 3,63 | 3,92 | 34,7 | 1,3 | 62,6 | -4,3 |
| State origin | 7.550 | 15,3 | 27.269 | 7,2 | 3,61 | 3,88 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 5.935 | 58,7 | 21.643 | 45,4 | 3,65 | 3,98 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Araba/Álava | 1.383 | 26,1 | 7.104 | -6,2 | 5,14 | 6,90 | 21,4 | -1,3 | 54,1 | -16,1 |
| State origin | 1.125 | 12,9 | 4.892 | -19,7 | 4,35 | 6,12 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 258 | 156,4 | 2.212 | 49,7 | 8,58 | 14,69 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bizkaia | 8.205 | 29,2 | 20.024 | 36,2 | 2,44 | 2,32 | 34,1 | 1,3 | 49,5 | -4,8 |
| State origin | 4.589 | 18,2 | 10.253 | 29,8 | 2,23 | 2,03 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 3.616 | 46,5 | 9.771 | 43,5 | 2,70 | 2,76 | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gipuzkoa | 3.898 | 36,9 | 21.785 | 20,7 | 5,59 | 6,34 | 44,4 | 1,9 | 78,3 | 4,8 |
| State origin | 1.836 | 9,7 | 12.124 | 5,9 | 6,60 | 6,84 | - | - | - | - |
| Foreign origin | 2.062 | 75,8 | 9.660 | 46,4 | 4,69 | 5,63 | - | - | - | - |
p.p.*= difference in percentage points on the same month of the previous year
m/m12 Rate of year-on-year change in the last observed month (m) compared to the same month of the previous year (m-12)
Date June 22, 2023
Source: Eustat Tourist accommodating establishments survey
Visitors from abroad accounted for 44% of the total number of visitors and 44.2% of the total number of overnight stays in tourist apartments in the Basque Country, after registering year-on-year increases of 58.7% and 45.4%, respectively, during May 2023.
The average length of stay in tourist apartments was 3.63 days in May 2023, below that obtained in May 2022, which stood at 3.92 days for the Basque Country as a whole. The average length of stay in this type of establishment was 5.59 days in Gipuzkoa, 5.14 days in Álava and 2.44 days in Bizkaia.
The bed occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 34.7%, following an increase of 1.3 percentage points in relation to May 2022. In contrast, the apartment occupancy rate dropped by 4.3 percentage points to stand at 62.6%.
In respect of tourist hostels in the Basque Country, in May 2023 there was a year-on-year increase of 22.4% in visitor numbers, reaching a total of 24,270 visitors who generated a total of 40,711 overnight stays. 22,464 overnight stays were registered in Bizkaia, 17,179 in Gipuzkoa and lastly the number of overnight stays in Álava was 1,068.
In May 2023, the average length of stay in this type of accommodation was 1.68 days in the Basque Country as a whole and the bed occupancy rate reached 39.5%, after a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percentage points.
Informative note
The response rate for the Survey on Tourist Establishments this month was 96.7% for Rural Accommodation, 84.7% for Tourist Apartments and 81.1% 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