Foreign tourists. By means of transport
| Foreign tourists | Car, motorhome, motorcycle and others | Coach | Aeroplane | Train | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 18,182.6 | 3,828.6 | 697.0 | 12,490.0 | 238.9 | 928.1 |
| 2022 | 14,852.0 | 3,265.0 | 493.7 | 10,315.0 | 174.6 | 603.6 |
| 2021 | 5,787.8 | 2,096.5 | 120.9 | 3,341.8 | 105.0 | 123.6 |
| 2020 | 3,870.3 | 1,499.6 | 172.2 | 2,075.1 | 66.3 | 57.0 |
| 2019 | 19,375.2 | 3,842.1 | 479.4 | 14,044.0 | 250.5 | 759.1 |
| 2018 | 19,196.3 | 3,882.5 | 747.3 | 13,431.0 | 231.2 | 904.3 |
| 2017 | 19,118.4 | 4,099.6 | 799.1 | 13,461.6 | 247.2 | 510.9 |
| 2016 | 18,139.2 | 4,494.9 | 840.6 | 12,306.0 | 244.9 | 252.7 |
| Units: Thousands. | ||||||
| Source: Idescat, based on data of the INE's Tourist Movement on Borders Survey and Tourist Expenditure Survey. | ||||||
| Notes: | ||||||
| Train and others: A partir del mes de gener del 2014 l'IET incorpora els creuers i els trens d'alta velocitat en el càlcul de les dades. | ||||||
| Up until the third quarter of 2015, the Spanish Institute of Tourism was in charge of producing the Survey of Tourist Movement on Borders (Frontur) and the Survey of Tourist Expenditure (Egatur). Starting in the last quarter of 2015, the body in charge of said operations is the INE. Said shift of responsibilities also entailed a change in the design and methodology of the surveys, which means the data will not be entirely comparable to previous series. | ||||||
| A partir del 2016 les dades de motiu del viatge personal (familiar, salut i compres), estan incloses a altres. | ||||||
| It considers information of trips of foreign tourists whose main destination is Catalonia. | ||||||
| Between 14 March and 21 June 2020, it is in force the Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, which declares the state of alarm for the management of the health crisis situation caused by Covid-19. | ||||||
Last update: March 13, 2024.
Methodological note
Definition of concepts
- Tourist
- People who travel to a main destination outside their usual environment, involving at least one overnight stay, for a duration of less than one year and when the main reason for the visit (including business, leisure and other personal reasons) is not connected with a job in a company established in the location visited.
Methodological aspects
Statistics are drawn up on trips made by foreign tourists in order to quantify and describe flows of visitors to Catalonia.
The data are obtained from the Survey of Tourism Movements at Borders (Frontur) produced by the Institute of Tourism Statistics (ITS). Using the restricted access databases provided by ITS, Idescat expands the results with a greater disaggregation of the variable for Catalonia and provides quarterly information about tourists and overnight stays by country of origin. A més, la informació referida als turistes, es classifica en diferents variables: allotjament, motiu del viatge, país de residència i tipus de transport.
Frontur is a continuous monthly survey which uses a mixed data gathering system. It uses administrative registers for all types of transport used, takes a manual count at border points and carries out sample-based surveys at entry and exit points in Spain. This statistical operation generates information about the number of travellers and the number of overnight stays.
In March 2009, Idescat applied the new methodology for making estimates. The data from 2006, 2007 and 2008 was revised in view of the methodological changes incorporated by Frontur. These changes improved the estimates of data on travellers entering Spain through ports and by road (coaches). The other means of entry (airport, train and light vehicles by road) were unaffected by the changes.
Al gener del 2014 l'IET incorpora a l'estadística de Frontur la via d'accés amb creuer i amplia la cobertura dels viatgers que venen a Catalunya. Això implica que es considerin els viatgers internacionals en trànsit (és a dir, aquells que una vegada arriben a port continuen el viatge al creuer). Pel que fa als trens, s'han redissenyat els fluxos de ferrocarrils amb França, apareix de manera molt rellevant l'alta velocitat i s'han suprimit els antics trajectes existents.
Until 2015, data are always provisional.