Spain sets new all-time record of inbound tourists, with 75.3 million arrivals in 2016

Total spending by tourists that visited Spain amounted to 77 billion euros, also a new record, which represents an 8.3% increase on the previous year. Similarly, the average spend per tourist rose by 3.75% to stand at 1,023 euros per person. The average daily spend per tourist rose to 138 euros, a 6.5% increase on 2015.

These figures were prepared from information provided by Turespaña and the statistics provided by the FRONTUR and EGATUR surveys of the National Statistics Institute (Spanish acronym: INE).

Arrival of tourists from January to November

Among the main emitting markets between January and November, and according to the Statistics on Tourist Movements at Borders (Spanish acronym: FRONTUR), published to date and collated by the INE, the strength of tourism from the United Kingdom is particularly worthy of mention, with the arrival of almost 17 million tourists, a 12.3% increase on the first 11 months of 2015. This was followed by the arrival of 10.8 million tourists from France, a 7.1% increase, and 10.7 million tourists from Germany, a 6.1% increase on the same months of 2015.

By destination, Catalonia was the leading autonomous region to receive inbound tourists, with a total of more than 17 million, a 3.8% increase on the first 11 months of 2015, followed by the Balearic Islands, with 12.9 million tourists and growth of 12%, and the Canary Islands, with 12 million tourists and growth of 12.7%.

Higher spending between January and November

According to data provided by the INE, the accumulated figures to November 2016 show that spending increased across the board, with particularly high growth in the Region of Madrid (14.7%), the Region of Valencia (13.6%), the Canary Islands (10.7%) and the Balearic Islands (10.4%).

In terms of emitting countries and compared with the same period of the previous year, particularly noteworthy growth was seen in spending by British tourists (up 12.2%), followed by France (up 7.56%), the Nordic countries (up 7.1%), and Germany (up 4.7%).