Spain received during the first four months of the year about 21.4 million international tourists, 4.4% more than in the same period of 2018, while spending increased by 5.1% to 22,489 million euros.
They are the main data of the surveys of Tourist Movements in Frontera (FRONTUR) and of Tourist Expenditure (EGATUR) that the National Institute of Statistics elaborates.
The Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, has valued these figures very positively, since "they confirm the good health of the Spanish tourism sector" and has opted to continue working "in close collaboration with the regional, insular and local administrations and with the private sector, to maintain the competitive leadership of our country worldwide ".
During the month of April, 7.2 million tourists visited our country, representing an increase of 5.7% compared to April 2018. Their expenditure was 7,095 million euros, 7.2% more. The average daily expenditure stood at 153 euros (+ 6.3%).
Arrival of tourists
Between January and April, the number of international tourists increased in the main issuing markets and in most of the Autonomous Communities. In the accumulated of the year, the main emitting markets are the United Kingdom (about 4.3 million tourists), Germany (almost 3 million) and France (about 2.7 million). The recovery trend of British (+ 0.1%) and German (+ 6.5%) arrivals, initiated at the beginning of the year, is maintained. The strong increase of the North American tourists stands out (+17,5), that surpass the figure of 785,000 between January and April. "If this trend continues, the forecasts for the whole year are very positive," said Isabel Oliver.
For national destinations, Catalonia was the community that received the most tourists (almost 4.9 million, representing a growth of 4.8%), followed by the Canary Islands (close to 4.8 million and a decrease of 0.9%) and Andalusia (almost 3.2 million, 8.1% more). It also highlights the growth of the Community of Madrid, which increases the number of tourists received by 8.8%, to over 2.4 million.
Increase in spending
From January to April, the Autonomous Communities of main destination with the highest total expenditure were the Canary Islands (6,045 million euros and an increase of 4.7%), Catalonia (4,848 million euros, 5.7%) and Andalusia (3,114 million). of euros and a decrease of 1.5%).
As for the issuing countries, the United Kingdom has the highest cumulative expenditure so far this year, with 3,968 million euros (+ 3.5%). It is followed by Germany, with 2,980 million euros (+ 5.2%) and the whole of the Nordic countries, with 2,126 million euros (-4.8%).