The arrivals of international tourists until the month of April predict a good summer, if not similar to those prior to the pandemic, already very close. In this month, which coincided with Easter, 6.1 million tourists arrived in Spain, only one million less than in 2019, a year that was already considered exceptional, a figure similar to 2018, and well above that of 2021 , when we were in the midst of a pandemic and only 600,000 foreigners visited us.
Expenditure is also close to pre-pandemic levels: in the aforementioned month, international tourists left almost 7,000 million, (6,900). In 2019, spending in the same period was 7,095 million euros, according to figures from the survey of border movements (Frontur) and spending (Egatur) published this Wednesday by the INE.
So far this year almost 15.8 million tourists have visited our country. In 2019 there were 21 million. This start of the year, however, was still very marked by the omicron variant, but already with good figures in March and April, coinciding with Easter.
Spain has recovered its main source markets, especially the United Kingdom, which was almost gone during 2020 and 2021 and is now making a strong comeback: so far this year nearly 4.3 million British tourists have visited us, the same arrivals as in 2018, for example. In addition, there are markets, such as Ireland, the Netherlands or Switzerland, that already emit more tourists than before the pandemic.
2019 is the year that is taken as a reference to compare the figures, since it was the last year of normality before the pandemic, although this was already considered exceptional, since Spain broke records in international tourist arrivals.
“Holy Week has consolidated the rapid and intense reactivation of the tourism sector, exceeding our own expectations. In addition, we are receiving tourists who stay longer in our country and, as a consequence, spend more on their trip, which indicates that we are moving towards a higher quality and more profitable tourism model”, has valued the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
“Despite the uncertainty of the war and its consequences, Spain is among the preferred international destinations for travel and our forecasts for the summer season indicate that we will recover pre-pandemic levels,” the minister added in a statement.
Not only markets are recovering, but also destinations that have been semi-absent in these two years, as is the case of Catalonia, which has been the main destination for tourists in the month of April: two out of every 10 internationals who visited us chose this region.
As for spending, it skyrockets, reaching 6,901 million euros, a pre-pandemic figure. For comparison, in 2021 the foreigners who visited us barely left 668 million.
Tourists who visited Spain in April stayed in our country for an average of 7.3 days, almost one day more than three years ago. As a consequence, the average expenditure per tourist increased by 15%, to 1,131 euros
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