Spain sets all-time record of 54.4 million inbound tourists between January and September

The United Kingdom, with 12.7 million tourists, followed by France, with 9.1 million and Germany, with 8.2 million, were the top emitting markets in the first nine months of the year. Noteworthy increases were posted by the United States, up 23.1%, Switzerland, up 8.6% and France, up 6.9%.

All the main autonomous regions posted year-on-year rises, with the Region of Madrid posting the highest rise, up 10.8%, followed by Andalusia, up 6.6% and the Region of Valencia, up 4.2%.

If the trends over the summer months, between June and September, are analysed, Spain beat the previous record of 31.8 million inbound tourists in 2014, by almost 1 million (898,855), over the same period.

The month of September once again posted a new record since the FRONTUR survey began, with 7,166,208 inbound tourists and a year-on-year increase of 2.2%.

In September, the United Kingdom was once again the leading emitting market, with 1,854,995 inbound tourists to Spain, up 4.6%, followed by Germany, with 1,186,463, down 3.4% and France, with 1,018,970, up 5.2%. Noteworthy rises were posted in inbound tourists by the United States, up 33%, which maintains its excellent rate of growth over the last few months, as well as by the Netherlands, up 13.3% and France, up 5.2%.

Catalonia was the top destination region for tourists visiting Spain in September, with 1,797,996 tourists, a decline of 0.1%, followed by the Balearic Islands, with 1,692,080 tourists, down 0.2%, while Andalusia, with 1,012,448 tourists, posted a rise of 6.4%

Main emitting markets

The United Kingdom is the top emitting market, with 12,740,336 tourists, an increase of 3.1%, and accounting for 23.4% of the total over the period January-September.

1,854,995 British tourists visited Spain in the month of September, up 4.6%, with an additional 82,000 visitors, thus making it the market with the greatest contribution to additional tourists. This increase was particularly felt in the Balearic Islands, although it was also felt in all the main regions.

France, the second-highest emitting market in the first nine months of the year, with 9,183,150 tourists, accounting for 16.9% of the total, posted a significant increase of 6.9%. However, in September, it fell to third place, with 1,018,970 inbound tourists, up 5.2%, accounting for 14.2% of the total. Catalonia was the region to benefit the most, whilst the Region of Madrid posted a decline in French tourists.

Germany, with 8,270,276 tourists in the first nine months, posted a slight decline of 0.8%, accounting for 15.2% of the total. 1,186,463 tourists visited from Germany in September, posting a decline of 3.4%, and accounting for 16.6% of the total. This affected all regions, except the Region of Madrid.

3,722,481 tourists visited from the Nordic markets between January and September, amounting to 6.8% of the total, with an accumulated decline of 3.4%. In September, they regained market share, with growth of 3.2% to total 399,170 inbound tourists. This rise affected all the main regions, except the Balearic Islands.

With 3,150,553, Italy posted growth of 5.5% over the first nine months of the year. It was the fifth leading emitting market in the period. In September, 376,074 Italian tourists visited Spain, a decline of 2.9%. This one-off fall in the month particularly affected Catalonia, while increases were seen in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the Region of Madrid and the Region of Valencia.

2,363,592 Dutch tourists visited Spain in the first nine months of the month, accounting for 4.3% of the total, with growth of 6.7%. They posted a noteworthy increase of 13.3% in September, with a total of 311,803 inbound tourists.

Significant growth was posted by tourists from the United States, both in accumulated terms, with 1,220,695 tourists, a 23.1% increase, and in the month of September, with a 33% year-on-year increase, following the arrival of 143,336 tourists. The Asian markets also continued with their excellent trend over the course of the whole year. Worthy of mention is the 65.8% and 27% increases in Chinese and Japanese tourists respectively over the first nine months of 2015.

Main destination autonomous regions

With 13,917,487 tourists in the first nine months of the year, Catalonia was the top destination region for tourists visiting Spain. This was a year-on-year increase of 3.2% and accounted for 25.6% of the total. In September, this market saw a year-on-year decrease of 0.1% following the arrival of 1,797,996 tourists, mainly following a downturn from tourists from Russia and Italy, although increases were posted in tourists from France and the United States.

With 10,418,810 tourists between January and September (up 2.5%), the Balearic Islands accounted for 19.2% of the total, maintaining its position in second place. A total of 1,692,050 inbound tourists visited the islands in September, a decrease of 0.2% on September 2014. A particularly noteworthy decline was recorded in German tourists, offset by increases in tourists from the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.

With 8,460,606 inbound tourists between January and September, the Canary Islands maintained growth of 1.2% in the period, accounting for 15.6% of the total. 864,913 tourists visited the Canary Islands in September, a rise of 2.3%. Noteworthy growth was posted by tourists from the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, by tourists from the Netherlands, France and Belgium

With 7,397,700 inbound tourists in the first nine months of the year, Andalusia posted significant growth of 6.6%, with a market share of 13.6% of all tourists visiting Spain. In September, Andalusia exceeded the figure of 1 million tourists (1,012,448) for the first time in a month of September, with year-on-year growth of 6.4%. Noteworthy figures were posted over the month by the Asian markets, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with growth, albeit to a lesser extent, from tourists from the United States and France.

The Region of Valencia was visited by 5,274,628 tourists in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 4.2% and accounting for 9.7% of the total. 669,576 tourists visited the region in September, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%. Noteworthy increases were recorded by tourists from the Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, by tourists from the United Kingdom, France and the Nordic countries.

The Region of Madrid was the destination for 3,808,146 inbound tourists in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 10.8% on 2014 and accounting for 7% of the total. In September, the Region of Madrid received 467,037 tourists, an increase of 7.9% on September 2014. The region benefitted from a wide range of countries of origin, with noteworthy increases in tourists from the Asian countries and the United Kingdom, but also by those tourists from Latin America, Italy, Germany and the US.

The rest of the regions received 5,090,789 tourists between January and September, up 3.5%, and accounting for 9.4% of the total. In September, these regions received 662,188 tourists, with growth of 7.9% and a market share of 6.5%. This increase was particularly significant in terms of tourists from Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Form of travel, accommodation and type of holiday

Air travel was the most popular form of travel in the first nine months of the year, accounting for 79.6% of the total, with 43,290,217 inbound tourists arriving by air - an increase of 3.7%. 10,088,748 inbound tourists travelled by road, representing 18.6% of the total and an increase of 4.3%. In September, 81.6% of the total arrived by air, 5,845,757 tourists, with a rise of 1.9%, while 1,175,947 tourists arrived by road, accounting for 16.4% of the total, and another 2% by other forms of travel.

Hotel accommodation was chosen by 33,899,080 tourists, or 62.4% of the total in the first nine months of the year, up 3.6%, while the number of tourists opting for non-hotel accommodation was chosen by 20,469,087 tourists, or 37.6% of the total, an increase of 4.2%. In September, these figures stood at 63.9% and 36.1% respectively, for hotel and non-hotel accommodation.

38,757,528 tourists chose to travel independently between January and September, up by 5.3% to 71.3% of the total, while the number of tourists travelling on a package holiday, 15,610,630, rose slightly by 0.3%, to 28.7% of the total. In September, the number of tourists travelling independently (69.4% of the total) rose by 1.1%, while those on a package holiday (30.6% of the total) rose by 4.9%.