In the midst of the tourism boom in Spain after a record 2023 both in terms of arrivals of international travelers and spending (more than 85 million travelers visited us and spent 108,662 million euros in Spain), the prices of hotels, hotels, pensions and similar accommodation services continued to rise between January and April. They did so by 16.3% compared to the same period of the previous year, five times more than the cost of living increased in the last month.
The data released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) also confirm that national tourist packages became somewhat less expensive, by 7.4%. This increase in accommodation is, however, lower than that recorded in 2023, when hotel and hostel prices rose by 23.7% compared to the previous year. Yes, it is very close to the increase registered in the same months of 2019, when it grew by 16.7%.
Regarding holiday centers, campsites or youth hostels, the price of their accommodation increased by 4.7% so far this year. In the fourth month of the year, hotel establishments were 1.3% more expensive and non-hotel establishments increased their price by 4.7%, reports Europa Press.
In the absence of making public the April data, according to Statistics, overnight stays in Spanish hotel establishments increased by 12.6% so far in 2024, already exceeding 24 million. Likewise, non-hotel overnight stays increased by 8.5% during the first four months of the year, with 6.7 million nights.
Regarding tourist packages, national ones reduced their price by 0.8% in the accumulated amount of 2024, as did international ones, which became cheaper by 3.7%. On a year-on-year basis, national tickets were 13.4% more expensive compared to April 2023, while international tickets fell by 4.1%.
Foreign tourist arrivals rise 17.7% until March
The INE recently published the statistics on the arrival of foreign tourists (Frontur), which currently points to another record year for the sector. In the first three months of the year, the number of travelers who visited Spain increased by 17.7% compared to 2023 and exceeded the figure of 16.1 million. As is traditional, the main issuing countries in the first quarter were the United Kingdom (with almost 3.0 million travelers and an increase of 15.1%), Germany (with almost 2.1 million and an increase of 19. 5%) and France (with nearly 2.0 million, 15.7% more).
In that period, total spending by international tourists shot up by 27.2% year-on-year and reached 21,948 million euros. In the first three months of the year, the United Kingdom was the country with the highest accumulated spending (16.4% of the total). They were followed by Germany (12.7%) and the Nordic countries (8.6%).
