August 2015 becomes best ever month for tourism in Spain with arrival of 9.2 million inbound tourists

According to FRONTUR - the Inbound Tourism Survey, drafted by the General Sub-directorate of Tourism Information and Studies of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, Spain surpassed the record posted between January and August 2014 with the arrival of 47,201,960 inbound tourists in the period, an increase of 1.8 million tourists and year-on-year growth of 4.1%.

The United Kingdom was the top emitting market in these eight months with 10,885,341 tourists (up 2.9%); followed by France with 8,164,180 tourists (up 7.1%) and Germany with 7,083,813 tourists (a slight decrease of 0.4%).

Between January and August, the highest growth figures were posted by the Region of Madrid with 11.4% more inbound tourists than in the same period last year. However, Catalonia continues to be the top receiving region with 12,119,491 inbound tourists, an increase of 3.8% on last year. This was followed by the Balearic Islands with 8,726,760 tourists (up 3.1%) and the Canary Islands with 7,595,694 tourists (up 1%).

In the three months traditionally considered to make up the summer period (June, July and August), the record figure of 24 million tourists (24,681,668) was surpassed for the first time in Spain - an increase of 3.2% on the same period in 2014.

August became the best month ever in terms of FRONTUR statistics with a total of 9,226,040 inbound tourists, an increase of 1.6% on August 2014 (the first time that over 9 million inbound tourists visited Spain in a single month). Once again, the United Kingdom was the main emitting market with 2,145,949 tourists and a trend similar to that posted in August last year (up 0.5%). This was followed by France with 2,088,801 tourists (up 5.1%). The United States posted growth of 25% in the month.

Main emitting markets

The United Kingdom was the top emitting market between January and August with almost 11 million tourists (10,885,345), an increase of 2.9% and accounting for 23.3% of the total. August saw growth of 0.5% with 2,145,949 tourists. This increase was felt by all the main autonomous regions except Catalonia.

France, the second emitting market, surpassed the record figure of two million inbound tourists in a single month for the first time in August. A total of 2,088,801 French tourists came to Spain in the month, 5.1% more than in August last year. With an increase of 7.1% and 8,164,180 inbound tourists in the first eight months of the year, France continues to be the market posting the highest growth among the main emitting markets. 17.3% of all tourists who visit Spain come from France.

Germany posted a decrease of 8.1% in August, down to 1,186,66 tourists. This counterbalances the significant increase of 11.9% posted by this market in August 2014. These figures from the German market mainly affected the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Canary Islands and Andalusia. However, a total of 7,083,813 German tourists visited Spain in the first eight months of the year; a decrease of 0.4% on 2014.

The Nordic markets maintained their position as the fourth emitting market for Spain with 3,323,311 tourists between January and August. This represents a slowdown of the downward trend seen in previous months to -4.1% in this period. 7.8% of all inbound tourists came from these markets. A total of 362,722 tourists visited Spain from the Nordic markets in August, an increase of 0.1% on August 2014.

Italy maintained the significant pace of growth seen throughout the year in August with 686,208 inbound tourists in the month, an increase of 5.3% on August 2014. In the first eight months of the year, a total of 2,774,479 Italian tourists visited Spain. This is an increase of 6.8% and accounts for 5.2% of the total.

2,051,789 inbound tourists visited Spain from the Netherlands in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 5.8% and accounting for 4.1% of the total. In August, 382,767 inbound tourists came to Spain from this market, a significant increase of 14.1%.

Other emitting markets with significant growth included the United States (up 21.9% in the first eight months of the year and up 25% in August) and Switzerland (up 9.5% in the first eight months of the year and up 11.7% in August). In turn, the number of inbound tourists from the Asian markets - mainly South Korea, China and Japan - has risen by 37.7% since January.

Main destination autonomous regions

With 12,119,491 tourists in the first eight months of the year, Catalonia was the top destination region for tourists visiting Spain. This was a year-on-year increase of 3.8% and accounted for 25.4% of the total. In August, this market saw a decrease of 3% that was mainly due to downturns from such important markets as Russia, Italy and the United Kingdom. The growth posted by such other markets as France and North America was not enough to counterbalance this effect.

With 8,726,760 tourists between January and August (up 3.1%), the Balearic Islands accounted for 23.9% of the total. A total of 2,200,542 inbound tourists visited the islands in August, an increase of 0.7% on August 2014. Positive year-on-year results were maintained by tourists from Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, offsetting the decrease in tourists from Germany.

With 7,595,694 inbound tourists between January and August, the Canary Islands maintained growth of 1% - the most moderate of all the main destination regions. Growth was posted by all the main emitting markets except Germany. In August, the number of inbound tourists visiting the Canary Islands rose by 2.2%.

Andalusia maintained the good pace of growth seen throughout the year. With growth of 6.7%, a total of 6,385,252 inbound tourists visited the region in the first eight months of the year. This accounts for 13.7% of the total. A total of 1,262,211 inbound tourists visited the region in August (up 5.1%), mainly boosted by tourists from the Netherlands, the Asian markets and the United Kingdom, and, to a lesser extent, those from the Nordic markets, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States.

The Region of Valencia was visited by 4,605,052 tourists in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 4.4% and 10.6% of the total. In August, almost one million tourists (979,261) visited the Region of Valencia, an increase of 6.3% in the month. The number of tourists from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France increased while the number from the Nordic markets and Germany fell slightly.

The Region of Madrid was the destination for 3,341,109 inbound tourists in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 11.2% on 2014 and accounting for 4.4% of the total. In August, the Region of Madrid posted the second-best August in its history with 406,885 tourists, an increase of 15.1% on August 2014. Growth was posted by almost all markets but mainly by those tourists from Latin America, the Asian markets and Italy.

Form of travel, accommodation and type of holiday

Air travel was the most popular form of travel in the first eight months of the year, accounting for 79.3% of the total, with 37,444,460 inbound tourists arriving by air - an increase of 4%. 8,912,801 inbound tourists travelled by road, representing 18.9% of the total and an increase of 4.4%. Both forms of travel saw increases in August; by 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively.

Hotel accommodation was chosen by 62.1% of tourists in the first eight months of the year, up 3.9%. In August, hotels were the chosen form of accommodation for 56.6% of inbound tourists visiting Spain, an increase of 7.1%. The number of tourists opting for non-hotel accommodation in August fell by 4.8%, although this figure is up by 4.4% for the first eight months of the year as a whole.

33,781,763 tourists chose to travel independently between January and July, up by 6% to 71.6% of the total, while the number of tourists travelling on a package holiday fell slightly by 0.4%, slowing the downward trend seen in recent months. In August, the number of tourists travelling on a package holiday rose by 12%. However, the majority continue to travel independently (73.1% of the total).