Press Release 24/01/2025

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. December 2024

Visitors to rural accommodation in the Basque Country fell by 0.3% in 2024, while in tourist apartments they rose by 21.4%

The year-on-year increase in the number of overnight stays by people from abroad stood at 3.2% for rural accommodation and 31.5% for tourist apartments

With regard to rural accommodation in the Basque Country, in 2024 as a whole, occupancy variables recorded similar results to those obtained in 2023, with a decrease of 0.3% in the case of visitor numbers and 0.2% in that of overnight stays. Thus, the number of visitors in rural accommodation in 2024 rose to 172,341 and there were 445,501 overnight stays, according to Eustat data.

In 2024, visitor numbers increased by 8.2% in Álava, while in Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia they fell by 1.8% and 2.7%, respectively. Likewise, overnight stays in Álava were up 3.0% in 2024, while in Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia they were down 0.1% and 2.1%, respectively.

Foreign visitors accounted for 25.9% of total visitor numbers in this type of establishment in the Basque Country in 2024, following an increase of 3.2% in respect of 2023.

The average length of stay in rural accommodation in the Basque Country was 2.58 days, identical to that recorded in 2023. Meanwhile, the occupancy rate stood at 29.2% in the case of beds and 33.9% in that of rooms, following increases of 0.3 and 1.1 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous year.

The 2024 annual balance for tourist apartments in the Basque Country saw an improvement with regard to 2023, both in terms of the number of visitors and the number of overnight stays. With a total of 214,157 visitors and 719,936 overnight stays for the year as a whole, the year-on-year increases in relation to 2023 reached 21.1% and 14.8%, respectively.

The number of overnight stays recorded in 2024 as a whole increased in respect of those estimated in 2023 in all three provinces, albeit to varying degrees. In the case of visitor numbers, however, performance varied. The total number of visitors in tourist apartments fell by 32.0% in Álava, whereas it rose by 29.1% in Bizkaia and 20.9% in Gipuzkoa. Meanwhile, growth in the number of overnight stays was seen in all three provinces, with increases of 8.1% in Gipuzkoa, 11.1% in Álava and 22.8% in Bizkaia.

Following a rise of 31.5% over the course of the year, visitors from abroad accounted for 38.9% of the total number of visitors in this type of establishment in the Basque Country in 2024, above the 35.8% they represented in 2023.

In 2024, the bed occupancy rate surpassed that obtained in 2023 by 2.3 percentage points, while the apartment occupancy rate increased by 3.6 percentage points, standing at 39.4% and 65.9%, respectively.

After the first year in which data on tourist hostels in the Basque Country were published, the 2024 annual balance showed growth in relation to the previous year of 12.6% in the number of visitors and 12.8% in the number of overnight stays, with 250,183 visitors and 452,561 overnight stays in the year as a whole. The year-on-year rise in visitor numbers stood at 18.7% in Bizkaia and 8.3% in Gipuzkoa, while Álava saw a drop of 28.3%. Meanwhile, overnight stays for the year as a whole were up 19.1% in Bizkaia and 7.3% in Gipuzkoa, with a decrease of 24.8% in Álava.

December 2024

In the last month of the year, December 2024, visitor numbers and overnight stays in rural accommodation in the Basque Country were down 21.4% and 16.7% compared to December of the previous year, standing at 9,077 and 21,410, respectively.

In December 2024, Spain was the origin of 90.7% of visitors and 86.9% of overnight stays.

In Álava, there were 2,384 visitors, 26.5% fewer than in December of the previous year; in Bizkaia, there were 2,463 visitors, a drop of 23.1%; and in Gipuzkoa, the number of visitors in December was down 17.1% on December of the previous year, standing at a total of 4,230.

Overnight stays followed a similar pattern. Following a year-on-year decrease of 4.0%, the number of overnight stays in Bizkaia reached 6,231, while in Álava the drop stood at 16.2% and in Gipuzkoa it was 23.8%, representing 5,926 overnight stays in Álava and 9,253 in Gipuzkoa.

The average length of stay in this type of establishment in the Basque Country was 2.36 days in December, above the average of 2.23 days observed in the same month of 2023.

Bed and room occupancy rates experienced a year-on-year decrease of 3.6 and 3.2 percentage points respectively, the bed occupancy rate standing at 17.4% and that of rooms at 20.7%.

As regards tourist apartments, in December 2024 visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 14,800 and 54,424, respectively. In relation to December of the previous year, the number of visitors rose by 28.3% and overnight stays were up 15.7%.

Visitors from abroad accounted for 25.4% of visitors and 29.0% of overnight stays in tourist apartments in the Basque Country, following year-on-year increases of 45.9% and 20.8%, respectively.

The average length of stay observed in December 2024 was 3.68 days, below that obtained in December 2023, which was 4.08 days. At provincial level, the average length of stay stood at 2.36 days in Bizkaia, 5.98 days in Gipuzkoa and 11.49 days in Álava.

The bed occupancy rate at the Basque Country level was 32.3% and the apartment occupancy rate reached 59.8%. This represented an increase of 0.5 percentage points in the case of bed occupancy and 1.5 percentage points in the case of apartment occupancy.

With regard to tourist hostels, in December 2024 visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 8,240 and 15,650, respectively. Compared to the previous December, these figures meant a drop of 7.2% in the case of visitor numbers and 3.4% in that of overnight stays.

Note:

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in December 2024 was 77.3% for Rural Accommodation, 77.1% for Tourist Apartments and 78.5% in the case of 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