Inbound tourists spend 28.29 billion euros in first half of 2015, an increase of 7.4% and the best figure since records began

According to the Tourist Expenditure Survey (EGATUR) drafted by the General Sub-directorate of Tourism Information and Studies of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the average spend per day rose by 4.2% and the average spend per tourist rose by 3.1%.

The United Kingdom was the top emitting market in this period, with spending of 5.73 billion euros and year-on-year growth of 9.8%. German tourists spent 4.42 billion euros (up 0.5%) and French tourists spent 2.69 billion euros, the highest growth among the main emitting markets at 12.8%. In turn, the United States also posted strong growth of 26.3% - the highest in the period - with spending of 1.6 billion euros.

Catalonia was the region posting the highest inbound tourist spending figure in the first half of 2015 at 6.38 billion euros, an increase of 6.7%. This was followed by the Canary Islands with 6.2 billion euros and Andalusia with 4.42 billion euros. At 11.4% the highest increase was posted by the Region of Madrid.

In June, inbound tourists spent 6.48 billion euros, an increase of 4.3%. This is the highest June figure ever recorded by the EGATUR survey. This was due to increases in the number of tourists (1.4%), the average spend per day (3.5%) and the average spend per tourist (2.8%).

Emitting markets

Once again, the United Kingdom was the main emitting market and responsible for the highest inbound tourist spending figures in both the first half of the year and the month of June. Between January and June, British tourists spent 5.73 billion euros in Spain - an increase of 9.8%, which accounted for 20.2% of total spending by inbound tourists. In June, this market posted the seventh straight month of growth with spending of 1.51 billion euros - an increase of 7% - accounting for 23.3% of the total. This increase was due to an increase in the average spend per tourist (6%).

German tourists spent 4.42 billion euros between January and June - an increase of 0.5% - accounting for 15.6% of total spending by inbound tourists. With 989 million euros spent in the month of June, this market posted a decrease of 2.9% and accounted for 15.3% of the total. Despite the average spend per German tourist remaining stable (up 0.1%), the decrease in the number of inbound tourists from this market (down 3%) led to a negative effect mainly felt in Andalusia. In contrast, spending by inbound German tourists rose in the Canary Islands.

French tourists spent 2.69 billion euros in Spain over the first six months of the year, an increase of 12.8% on last year. This was the highest increase among the main emitting markets and accounted for 9.5% of the total. In June, France was the fourth highest market in terms of spending volume, with 467 million euros spent - with a decrease of 2.2% - accounting for 7.2% of the total. However, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands posted increases in spending by inbound tourists from France.

The Nordic markets spent 2.64 billion euros between January and June, which represents a decrease of 5.7% and accounts for 9.3% of the total. In June, tourists from the Nordic markets spent 437 million euros - a decrease of 4.4% due to a lower average spend per tourist (down 4.6%), which affected the Balearic Islands in particular.

US tourists, who spent 1.6 billion euros in the first half of the year, posted the highest increase in the period - up 26.3% and accounting for 5.7% of the total. In June, the United States was the third highest market with an inbound tourist spending figure of 512 million euros. The market also posted the highest increase in the month - up 27.6%, and accounting for 7.9% of the total. This was mainly due to a 21.6% increase in the number of tourists.

Main destination autonomous regions

6.38 billion euros were spent in Catalonia in the first half of the year, an increase of 6.7% and accounting for 22.6% of the total. In June, a total of 1.59 billion euros were spent in Catalonia - an increase of 2.6% which accounted for 24.5% of the total. The average spend per day rose by 3.9% and the average spend per tourist rose by 0.8%, mainly led by the United States and the Asian markets.

The Canary Islands were the second highest region in terms of inbound tourist spending between January and June, with 6.2 billion euros accounting for 21.9% of the total, representing an increase of 2.2%. However, the Canary Islands were only fourth in June with total spending by inbound tourists of 785 million euros - an increase of 9.1% and accounting for 12.1% of the total.

Andalusia posted a spending figure of 4.42 billion euros in the first six months of the year, an increase of 9.7% and accounting for 15.6% of the total. In June, inbound tourists visiting Andalusia spent 978 million euros, an increase of 7.8%, which accounted for 15.1% of the total.

The Balearic Islands, with 3.75 billion euros between January and June, posted an 8.4% increase in tourist spending, which accounted for 13.3% of the total. In June, a total of 1.58 billion euros were spent in the Balearic Islands. This put the market in second place with an increase of 2.9% and accounting for 24.4% of the total. The United Kingdom made the largest contribution to these results.

The Region of Madrid posted an inbound tourist spending figure of 3.05 billion euros in the first half of the year, with strong growth of 11.4% - the highest in the period - which accounted for 10.8% of the total. In June, this region received 545 million euros from inbound tourists - a decrease of 1.9% which accounted for 8.4% of the total. This fall was due to fewer tourists, because at 1, 412 euros the average spend per person actually rose by 6% to the highest figure among the main destination regions.

The Region of Valencia posted a spending figure of 2.28 billion euros between January and June, an increase of 7.3%, which accounted for 8.1% of the total. A total of 527 million euros were spent in June, an increase of 3.2%, which accounted for 8.1% of the total. The United Kingdom made the largest contribution to this growth.

Type of accommodation, type of holiday and reason for travel

In the first half of the year, 18.39 billion euros were spent by those inbound tourists who opted for hotel accommodation, representing an increase of 5% on the previous year. This figure accounts for 65% of the total. In June, this type of accommodation stood at 4.24 billion euros - an increase of 3.2% and accounting for 65.5% of the total.

Those tourists who opted for non-hotel accommodation spent 9.9 billion euros in the first half of the year, an increase of 12.2%, which accounted for 35% of the total. In June, these tourists spent a total of 2.24 billion euros, an increase of 6.4% and accounting for 34.5% of the total.

The number of tourists travelling independently represented 67.1% of the total in the first half of the year, with total spending of 18.97 billion euros, representing an increase of 10.4%.

Spending by tourists who opted for a package holiday amounted to 9.32 billion euros, an increase of 1.9% between January and June, accounting for 32.9% of the total. In June, independent travel accounted for 67.4% of the total, with spending of 4.36 billion euros, while package holidays accounted for 32.6% of the total at 2.12 billion euros with a decrease of 0.5%.