Spending By Spanish Tourists Grows By 1.9% In The Third Quarter

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Spanish residents spent a total of 19.3 billion euros in the third quarter of 2019, 1.9% more than in the same period in 2018.

The number of trips was 61.1 million (down 5.4%) and their average duration was 6.2 nights (up 3.8%), according to data from the Survey of Resident Tourists (FAMILITUR), prepared by the National Statistics Institute (Spanish acronym: INE).

For the Acting State Secretary for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, these figures demonstrate “the increased profitability of the tourist sector, with an increase in spending and average duration, despite the lower number of trips. They also confirm that the trend for resident tourists is similar to that for international tourists,” she explained.

From July to September, trips for leisure, recreation and holiday purposes continue to be the main reason for travel in 61.8% of cases (down 2.5%). Of these, 38.3% correspond to summer holidays. Residents are taking an increasing number of holidays abroad, with a rise of 3.2%, accounting for 11.9% of the total. However, the main destination continues to be Spain itself, with 88.1% of the total (down 6.4%).

Spending on these trips within Spain rose by 2.1%, compared with 1.4% on those abroad. Daily spending stood at 41 euros within Spain and 97 euros abroad.

The main destinations for residents by autonomous regions in the third quarter were Andalusia (18.0% of the total), the Region of Valencia (12.3%) and Catalonia (11.7%). Allowing for the population of each region, the biggest travellers were residents of the Region of Madrid (1,860 trips per 1,000 people), Aragon (1,559) and the Basque Country (1,363). In contrast, those who travel least are the residents of the Balearic Islands (686 trips per 1,000), Cantabria (906) and Extremadura (1,002).

In the first nine months of 2019 over 153 million trips were made by residents, 1.7% fewer than in the same period the previous year. Domestic holidays fell by 2.6%, while holidays abroad increased by 7.0%. Total spending increased by 2.7%. Domestic holidays rose by 3.2%, while trips abroad increased by 1.7%.

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