Spending by international tourists exceeded 71 billion euros up to July, 18.6% more than a year ago

International tourist arrivals and tourist spending in Spain continue their positive trends. From January to July, spending by international tourists grew 18.6% to 71.108 billion euros and the number of visitors increased 12% to 53.4 million.

In July, 10.9 million international tourists visited us, 7.3% more than in the same period last year, according to data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE). In addition, in that month, foreign visitors brought in 15.535 billion euros; year-on-year growth of 11.9%.

The Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, said that "the significant increase in spending by international travellers visiting our country confirms that tourism, thanks to the efforts and work of everyone, continues to drive the country's economy, generating wealth and employment in the sector".

In detail, the July tourism spending data, as has been the case in previous months, has seen improvements in average spending per traveller and average daily spending that, together with the average stay, are three very useful concepts for measuring the effectiveness of the tourism policies carried out by the Ministry.

In July, each visitor spent an average of 1,432 euros, 4.3% more than last year, and spending per day also reflected this growth, reaching 195 euros, an increase of 2.1% year-on-year. The average length of stay among tourists was 4 to 7 nights.

Tourists from Asia, the fastest growing group of tourists

As usual every month, the United Kingdom was the main source country for tourists who visited us in July, with 2 million and an increase of 2.5% compared to the same month in 2023. From France, the second most visited country in July, 1.6 million tourists arrived (3.4% more than a year ago) and from Germany, the third country in the ranking, 1.2 million tourists visited (6.5% more than in the same period last year).

In addition, the largest increases in July were in Asia, up 11.5% year-on-year, and the United States, up 11.3% from the same month last year.

In terms of tourist spending, UK nationals - those who spend the most in Spain - spent 2.847 billion euros in June, an increase of 10.27%. The second country in terms of spending was Germany, whose nationals spent 1.674 billion euros on their holidays in Spain. This represents an increase of 16.74% compared to July 2023, which places the German country at the top of the countries with the highest growth in July. In third place is France, with spending of 1,497 million euros and growth of 1.4%.

Catalonia, leader in arrivals so far this year

The Balearic Islands was the main destination for tourists in July, with 23.4% of the total. It is followed by Catalonia (22.1%) and Valencia (13.6%).

The Balearic Islands received 4.3% more tourists than in July 2023. The number of tourists visiting Catalonia increased 3.7% and the Valencia saw a 10.8% increase.

In the first seven months of 2024, the communities that hosted the most tourists were Catalonia (11.5 million and an increase of 10.5% compared to the same period in 2023), the Balearic Islands (8.7 million and an increase of 7.0%) and the Canary Islands (8.7 million and an increase of 10.3%).

The Balearic Islands, at the forefront of spending

The main destination autonomous communities with the greatest weight in tourist spending in July were the Balearic Islands (with 24.4% of the total), Catalonia (20.1%) and Valencia (13.3%). Tourist spending increased 16.2% in annual rate in the Balearic Islands, 2.1% in Catalonia and 20.1% in the Valencia Region.

In the first seven months of 2024, the regions with the highest cumulative spending were Catalonia (with 18.9% of the total), the Canary Islands (18.3%) and the Balearic Islands (15.6%).

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