Catalonia leads the expenditure of international tourists in Spain

During the first six months of 2018, the total expenditure of international tourists who visited Spain increased by 4.2% with respect to the same period of the previous year and reached 38.944 million euros, according to the last Encuesta de Gasto Turístico [Tourism Expenditure Survey] published by the Spanish Institute National Statistics Office (INE).

By Autonomous Community, Catalonia was the one that obtained a greater accumulated expense, with a total of 8.938 million euros. This figure represents 22.9% of the total and reflects an increase of the expense of international tourists in Catalonia of 8.5% compared to the first half of 2017.

The second autonomous community with more spending by international tourists was the Canary Islands, with 8,114 million euros (20.8% of the total and an increase of 2.6%). The third place was held by Andalusia (5,707 million), the fourth by Balearic Islands (5,310 million) and the fifth by the Community of Madrid (4,399 million euros)

Last June, the total expenditure of international tourists was 9,393 million euros, 4.5% more than in June 2017. The average total expenditure per tourist was 1,100 euros, 3.2% more than the previous year, while the average daily expenditure stood at 152 euros, 6.2% more. The average duration of the trips was 7.3 days, slightly lower (-0.2 days) than in June 2017.

Catalonia was also the community in June that accumulated more spending by international tourists, with 2,402 million euros, representing an increase of 13.6% over the previous year. This figure represents 25.6% of the total spent by international tourists in Spain during the month of June. Balearic Islands was second with 2.147 million euros (22.9% of the total) and third Andalusia with 1.171 million euros of expenditure (13.7%).

By countries,  the ones that spent the most in Spain during the first six months of 2018 were tourists from the United Kingdom (19.8% of the total), followed by those of Germany (13.4%) and the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden (8.6%).