Spain was visited by 6.5 million inbound tourists in the first two months of the year – an increase of 4.5% and an all-time record since these figures began to be kept by the Inbound Tourism Survey (FRONTUR) drafted by the General Sub-directorate of Tourism Information and Studies of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.
With 1.2 million, the United Kingdom was the leading market in terms of the number of inbound tourists visiting Spain in the period. France was the second emitting market with 1,015,388, followed by Germany with 972,000 inbound tourists. The Canary Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia were the main destination regions. The Balearic Islands posted the highest increase at 20.9% more inbound tourists than in the first two months of 2014, followed by Andalusia with 11.7%.
All the main emitting markets posted growth in this period. The highest growth percentages were posted by Italy (20.4%), the United States (18.7%), Switzerland (9.4%), Belgium (8.6%) and Portugal (8.3%).
With an increase of 20.9%, the Balearic Islands were the Spanish region posting the highest January-February growth, while the Canary Islands and Catalonia were the regions visited by the highest number of inbound tourists, recording growth of 2.1% and 3.3%, respectively.
3.3 million inbound tourists visited Spain in February, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. Italy (up 20.5%), Switzerland (up 13.5%) and the United States (up 12.3%) posted the highest growth percentages in the month.
Main emitting markets
A total of 1,219,499 British tourists visited Spain between January and February, maintaining the market’s traditional leading position with an increase of 2.7% and accounting for 18.9% of the total. February saw 640,202 British tourists visit Spain; an increase of 0.7%, again maintaining the market’s leading position and posting the highest percentage of the total at 19.5%. The number of tourists opting to travel independently grew significantly.
A total of 1,015,388 inbound tourists arrived from France in the first two months of the year, making this country the second emitting market in terms of both the accumulated total and the February figures with an increase of 2.1% and accounting for 15.7% of the total. February saw 536,935 French tourists visit Spain, an increase of 7.1% on last year and accounting for 16.4% of the monthly total. Growth was posted in all Spanish regions, except the Balearic Islands , and special note should be taken of the 37.7% increase in French tourists visiting the Canary Islands.
A total of 972,455 German tourists visited Spain between January and February, an increase of 3.4% on the same period last year, making this the third emitting market with a 15.1% share of the total. 514,349 German tourists visited Spain in the month, an increase of 3.5% and accounting for 15.7% of the total. The Balearic Islands were the most popular choice among these tourists.
With 706,025 inbound tourists and 10.9% of the total, the Nordic markets took fourth place although experiencing a decrease of 6.1% in the accumulated total. 354,503 Nordic tourists visited Spain in February, a decrease of 5.8%. The Canary Islands felt the brunt of this downturn.
Italy was the emitting market for 399,966 inbound tourists to Spain between January and February, posting the highest growth percentage in the period, at 20.4%. Italian tourists accounted for 6.2% of the total. The market also posted the highest year-on-year variation for February, up 20.5%, thus maintaining a double-digit year-on-year growth trend. 185,137 Italian tourists visited Spain, accounting for 5.6% of the total.
The Netherlands posted a decrease of 3.3% in the period, accounting for 3.8% of the total. Belgium posted an increase of 8.6% in the first two months of the year, accounting for 3.4% of the total. 210,655 inbound tourists visited from Portugal, an increase of 8.3% and accounting for 3.3% of the accumulated total.
Switzerland was the next emitting market with 159,973 tourists, posting strong growth of 9.4% in the first two months of the year and accounting for 2.5% of the total. The United States posted growth of 18.7% between January and February, with 121,313 inbound tourists.
