Between the months of January and May, more than 19 million foreign tourists visited Spain, representing a 7.3% increase on the same period last year, according to figures published by the Spanish Inbound Tourism Survey (Spanish acronym FRONTUR), prepared by the Tourism Studies Institute of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade.
In the month of May, inbound tourism grew by 4.2%, with a total of 5.2 million tourists, figures that support the buoyancy of the Spanish tourism sector over the last few months.
According to the survey, the United Kingdom stands out among our main emitting markets, recording a 15.4% increase in the arrival of British tourists in May, with a total of 1.4 million. Among autonomous region destinations, the Canary Islands recorded a 12.9% increase in foreign tourists in May.
Emitting markets
Inbound tourists from the United Kingdom – our leading emitting market – were responsible in May for the largest increase in absolute terms. In May, 190,000 more tourists visited than last year, representing an increase of 15.4% to a total of 1.4 million tourists who opted for the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands or Andalusia as their chosen destination. In the first five months of the year, inbound British tourist numbers rose by 11%.
France, the second emitting market by volume in May, accounted for 14.8% of arrivals, with a month-on-month decline of 1.3%, which was principally noted in Catalonia, their main destination.
However, in the first five months of the year, there has been a recorded increase of inbound French tourists of 3.9%.
Germany, with almost 770,000 tourists, recorded a month-on-month decline of 13.9% in May, with the Balearic Islands being the most affected destination. In the period from January to May, inbound German tourists have fallen by 2.7%.
Noteworthy in the figures for the month of May is the evolution of tourists from the Netherlands, which, with an 18% increase, was the fourth emitting market and helped enhance overall month-on-month growth, with the Balearic Islands benefiting most from this increase. In the first five months of the year, this increase has amounted to 24.7%.
Ireland is another market that has recorded a significant increase, of 11.8%, in the month of May. In absolute terms, 127,132 inbound Irish tourists came to Spain in May with an overall increase in the year to date of 13.1%.
Tourists from the Nordic Countries, in turn, experienced an increase of 6.6% in May and 20.4% in global terms in the year to date.
America as a whole, corresponding to 6% of all inbound tourists, recorded a significant increase of 74.2% and the grouping ‘Rest of Europe’ also saw significant growth in May, up by 12.4%.
Main destination autonomous region
Catalonia, the leading tourist destination in Spain in May, recorded a month-on-month increase in inbound tourists, with a total of 1.3 million.
The Balearic Islands was the second ranking Spanish destination in May, with 1.2 million inbound tourists, a month-on-month increase of 9.6%. Moreover, it was the destination that recorded the greatest increase in absolute terms, with 104,000 more arrivals than in May 2010. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were the leading emitting markets contributing to this new influx of tourists.
Andalusia, with more than 780,000 inbound tourists in May, recorded a 1% month-on-month decline as a result of fewer tourists from distant markets. However, between January and May, the overall increase recorded amounts to 5.4%.
The Canary Islands recorded a month-on-month increase of 12.9%, with a total of 629,945 inbound tourists, mainly deriving from tourists from the United Kingdom. In accumulated terms, the increase amounted to 21.1%.
The Region of Valencia, in turn, saw an increase in its inbound tourist figures of 5.6%, with the main increases coming from inbound tourists from the United Kingdom and the Nordic Countries. Between January and May, the increase was 9% in total.
Finally the Region of Madrid saw a month-on-month decline of 9.6%, mainly due to a fall in inbound Italian tourists. The decline for the first five months of the year as a whole fell by 1.7%.
Method of travel, accommodation and organisation of trip
Tourists arriving to Spain by plane increased by 5.8%, compared with a fall of 1.5% for those arriving by road.
As regards type of accommodation, hotel accommodation saw the greatest increase, with 10.3%, compared with a drop of 7.1% in non-hotel accommodation, representing those who stayed in a second home or in a property owned by family or friends.
Package holidays showed a significant increase in May of 26.5% compared with a fall of 4.2% for those who chose a less organised form of holiday.
