International tourist numbers rose by 1.8 per cent in October but fell in Catalunya

The latest data regarding international tourism in Spain suggest that there was something of a slowdown in the rate at which the sector is expanding during the month of October, with the most popular destination reported to have welcomed fewer tourists than in the same month last year, and the largest single source of foreign visitors providing only 0.5 per cent more.

In overall terms the number of visitors to this country from abroad was 1.8 per cent higher than in October 20161 at 7.26 million (the smallest increase in the last twelve months), but in Catalunya the figure was down by 4.7 per cent at 1.49 million. It is hard to avoid concluding that the political instability in the region was at least partly responsible for this, bearing in mind the partial holding of the outlawed independence referendum on 1st October, the focus in the international press on incidents of violence between separatists and the forces of law and order, and the political turmoil surrounding the events of 27th October, when a unilateral declaration of independence was made in the regional parliament just before the Spanish government assumed direct rule over Catalunya.

Elsewhere the figures were higher than in October last year in all of the main tourist regions, but the rise was not as marked as in previous months, the most significant upward trends being in Madrid (up by 7.2 per cent to 626,000) and the Comunidad Valenciana (6.6 per cent higher at 811,000).

As is customary, the most important source of foreign visitors in October was the UK, which supplied 37.3 per cent of the 1.3 million non-Spanish visitors to the Canaries, 30.4 per cent of those travelling to the Comunidad Valenciana, 26.5 per cent of foreign visitors to Andalucia and 26.3 per cent of tourists in the Balearic Islands. But although the 1.66 million British visitors to Spain during the month accounted for 22.9 per cent of the total, this figure is only 0.5 per cent higher than in October 2016.

Other major markets for international tourism in Spain were also less buoyant than has been the case in recent months, with the number of people coming from Germany falling by 4.7 per cent to 1.22 million and the figure for France dropping by 10.2 per cent to 838,000, in the case of the latter, this is no doubt related to a reluctance among French visitors to cross the border into the turbulent region of Catalunya.

This stagnation of the three main markets was offset, though, by growth in others: the number of Scandinavians visiting Spain was up by 8.9 per cent at 586,000, and other eye-catching increases were those of 31.8 per cent for the USA and 17 per cent for both Switzerland and the Netherlands.

In terms of the year-to-date figures, on the other hand, 2017 remains a year of very healthy growth in the sector, and after 10 months the total has reached 73.4 million, 9.2 per cent more than at the same point in 2016. In fact, by the end of November the figure for the whole of 2016 (75.3 million) will doubtless have been exceeded, making this the best year ever for tourism in Spain in terms of foreign visitor numbers.

Again the UK leads the way in this respect, having provided 17.1 million visitors between January and October (7.1 per cent more than in the equivalent period last year), while the increase has been less significant for both Germany (5.9 per cent higher at 10.8 million) and France (up by only 0.4 per cent at 10.2 million). The number of Scandinavian visitors has increased by 15.2 per cent in 2017 and stands at just over 5 million at the end of October.

Source: Spain News Today, November 2017.