The arrival of foreign tourists grows by 14.5% until April with almost 24 million visitors and spending soars by 22.6%
The tourism boom does not stop. Spain chains record after record in number of foreign tourists and volume of spending. According to the latest data published this Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in April 7.8 million international travelers arrived in the country, leaving 9,565 million euros in their visit. With this push, Spain is touching the 24 million tourists received in the first four months of the year -14.5% more than in 2023-, in which spending has shot up by 22.6%.
The number of international tourists arrivals in April was 8.3% higher than the 7.2 million visitors received a year before. In this way, 2024 continues to improve the records of 2023, even though last year Easter coincided with the first week of April, instead of falling in March as happened this year. The festive dates put the finishing touch to a third month of the year that, despite the rains, recorded a volume of international tourists 21% higher than in 2023.
As usual, the majority of tourists came from the United Kingdom, from where 1.5 million travelers arrived in Spain in April, 8.5% more than in the same month of the previous year. They were followed by the French and German markets, which respectively contributed 1.2 and 1.1 million visitors to the total figure, 10.8% and 12.6% more than a year ago. 21.3% of tourists arriving in the fourth month of 2024 opted for Catalonia, which was the most visited community, ahead of Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.
Only in April Foreign travelers left 9,565 million euros in Spain, 13.1% more than in 2023. Most of this outlay was ‘eaten’ by transportation, to which tourists spent 19.1% more than a year ago. However, they also dedicated 1,670 million euros to pay for accommodation and an equivalent amount for maintenance, with the majority staying between four and seven nights.
Not only is total spending growing due to a greater influx of tourists, but also the expenditure made by each visitor individually is greater than a year ago. Specifically, andAverage spending per tourist increased by 4.4% in April compared to the same month in 2023 reaching 1,221 euros, while average daily spending increased by 5.4% to 183 euros. Catalonia, the Canary Islands and Andalusia were the communities that concentrated the greatest volume of spending. In April, travelers left 1,807, 1,673 and 1,474 million euros respectively in these three regions.
With these data, the tourism sector closes a record fourth quarter with almost 24 million international arrivals, 14.5% more than in the same period of 2023. “The results of the first quarter of 2024, the best in the historical series Since we have official records, they talk about tourism that revolves around quality as a differentiating aspect,” said the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu.
In these first four months of 2024, the United Kingdom has consolidated itself as the main issuing market with more than 4.4 million accumulated tourists and followed by Germany and France, with 3.18 and 3.14 million respectively. However, The growth of the Belgian and American markets stands out in particular.. The number of tourists from these countries has grown by 25% and 15% respectively in the last year, contributing 820,551 and 978,372 travelers to the total volume of arrivals.
On the spending side, in the first four months of 2024, foreign tourists have left Spain 31,513 million euros, 22.6% more than in the same period of 2023. The Minister of Tourism has especially highlighted this increase in spending at the destination during the first four months of 2024, a figure that, in his opinion, “symbolizes the permanent love affair of international tourists with a range of innovative offers that aspire to make values a reality. such as sustainability and digitalization”.
The Canary Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia account for 58.5% of this disbursement made by foreign tourists during the first four months of the year, given that they are also the communities that have received the most visitors. Specifically, in the first four months of 2024, the Atlantic archipelago has received 5.5 million foreign travelers – 11.4% more than in 2023 -, who have left 8,182 million euros on the islands. For their part, Catalonia and Andalusia have respectively welcomed 5 and 3.6 million tourists – 16.3% and 13.5% more than a year ago -, accompanied by an expenditure of 5,456 and 4,809 million euros respectively.
