February's overnight stay hotel data confirms tourism in Spain has recovered after pandemic

More demand means that the daily rate for a room is now 20 per cent higher than before the coronavirus crisis

Edurne Martínez

Madrid

Friday, 24 March 2023 | Updated 25/03/2023 07:40h.

Tourism in Spain has fully recovered from the pandemic as indicated by the latest figures from the Spain's national statistics institute (NIE) for overnight stays in Spanish hotels.

Data released on Thursday, 23 March, shows that, compared to February last year, there has been a 24% increase with 16.8 million overnight stays. Furthermore, this volume of hotel nights is higher than before the outbreak of the pandemic, when 16.6 million overnight stays were recorded.

This increase in demand has led to a rise in hotel prices, which stand at an average of 99.80 euros per room, 13% more than last year and 20% more than the 83.60 euros charged per room in February 2019. The average price of 100 euros per room is exceeded in the Canary Islands (129.50 euros), Catalonia (120 euros), and the Madrid region (106 euros).

The Canary Islands was the region that attracted the highest number of foreign tourists to its hotels, with 48% of the total number of overnight stays, followed by Catalonia and Andalucía. In the case of tourists resident in Spain, the main destinations were Andalucía (20.2% of overnight stays), the Madrid region (14%) and Catalonia (13.5%).

In terms of occupancy, 51.6% of the places on offer were filled in February, 16% more than last year and 3% more than in 2019. The weekend occupancy rate was close to 60%. By tourist areas, southern Gran Canaria had the highest occupancy rate by bedplaces (79.4%), while southern Tenerife had the highest weekend occupancy rate (79.3%). The island of Tenerife recorded the highest number of overnight stays in February, with 2.06 million.