Cumulative international tourist spending rises 16.7% to over 118 billion euros

The cumulative spending of international tourists between January and November 2024 amounts to more than 118 billion euros, an amount that exceeds the record spending for the whole of 2023 (108 billion) by 10 billion euros. Up to November 2024, spending by international tourists has grown 16.7% and the number of visitors for the same period has increased 10.7% to 88.5 million tourists, an amount that also already exceeds the historical cumulative figure for the twelve months of 2023, which was 85 million.

According to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), 5.6 million international tourists visited in November alone, 10.3% more than in the same month last year. In addition, in that month, foreign visitors brought in 7.709 billion euros, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 16%.

In detail, and as has been the case throughout practically the whole of 2024, the November tourism spending data saw improvements under average spending per traveller and average daily spending which, together with the average stay, are three of the main items in weighing up the effectiveness of the tourism policies carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

In November, each visitor spent an average of 1,361 euros, 5.2% more than last year, and spending per day also reflected this growth, reaching 178 euros, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year. The average stay was 7.6 days, slightly higher than a year ago when it was 7.4 days.

Notable increase in Italian and French tourists

As usual, the United Kingdom was the main country of residence of the tourists who visited us in November, with one million and an increase of 5.5% compared to the same month in 2023; from France, the second, we received 751,182 tourists (an increase of 17.4%); from Germany, 650,733 tourists arrived (4.4% more), and from Italy, the fourth in the ranking, 369,097 tourists were received (22% above the figure for the same period last year and the highest increase for a country this month). The main source countries in the first eleven months were the UK (with 17.5 million and an increase of 7.1%), France (with almost 12.2 million and an increase of 11.5%) and Germany (with almost 11.3 million, an increase of 8.5%).

In terms of spending, UK nationals - those who spend the most in Spain - spent 1.161 billion euros in November, an increase of 8.7%. The second country in terms of spending was Germany, whose nationals spent 957 million euros on their holidays in Spain, an increase of 20.2% compared to November 2023. In third place is France, with spending of 582 million euros and year-on-year growth of 22%, which makes the neighbouring country the market with the highest percentage increase in spending this month among the main countries.

Increasingly decentralised destinations

The Canary Islands was the first main destination for tourists in November, with 25.6% of the total. In second and third places were Catalonia (22.2%) and Andalusia (13.7%), respectively. A total of 8.6% more tourists were received by the Canary Islands than in November 2023. The number of tourists visiting Catalonia and Andalusia increased by 9.7% and 8.7%, respectively. In the first eleven months of 2024, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands were the autonomous communities with the most visitors.

A noteworthy fact this November is the more than notable increase of 40.9% in the arrival of international tourists to all communities - beyond the six historically large recipients (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Madrid and Valencia) - which shows the effectiveness of the tourism deconcentration policies implemented by the ministry.

In terms of spending, the main destination autonomous communities with the greatest weight in tourist spending in November were the Canary Islands (with 28.6% of the total), Catalonia (17.9%) and Madrid (15.7%). The annual rate of tourist spending increased by 13.4% in the Canary Islands, by 8.8% in Catalonia and by 13.1% in the Community of Madrid. In the first 11 months of 2024, the regions with the highest cumulative spending were Catalonia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.

As was also the case with arrivals, in spending, the significant increase - 35.5% - in the group of autonomous communities that are not considered the main destination stands out.

Non official translation