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Foreign tourists. Tourism expenditure. By country of origin

Foreign tourists. Tourism expenditure declared. By country of origin Catalonia
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Total declared expenditure (M€) 21,248 16,479 5,523 3,653 21,319 20,478 19,224 17,466
Germany 1,365 1,199 441 201 1,237 1,205 1,261 1,175
Belgium 562 371 197 75 411 426 500 480
France 2,754 2,402 1,221 703 2,458 2,423 2,452 2,338
Ireland 495 525 124 37 516 545 180 301
Italy 870 745 290 117 739 753 743 762
Netherlands 878 888 365 127 734 719 738 597
Nordic countries 636 621 211 74 661 735 797 754
Portugal 196 135 56 23 155 177 145 171
United Kingdom 1,914 1,581 251 212 1,943 1,902 1,674 1,641
Russia 225 181 86 114 1,167 1,187 1,123 968
Switzerland 304 257 142 37 204 208 325 240
Rest of Europe 1,894 1,794 717 372 1,973 1,765 1,591 1,491
Argentina 169 198 68 (*) Estimate with high variability 52 (*) Estimate with high variability 241 401 397 368
Brazil 230 232 50 (*) Estimate with high variability 65 367 232 303 268
Canada 470 302 95 69 421 347 323 262
United States 2,923 1,929 392 334 2,533 2,376 2,110 1,593
Rest of America 873 783 283 208 888 934 818 647
Japan 515 275 51 198 829 521 427 494
China 406 59 (*) Estimate with high variability .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 95 (*) Estimate with high variability 708 607 308 314
Rest of the world 3,569 2,001 448 540 3,136 3,015 3,009 2,601
Average expenditure per person (€) 1,169 1,110 954 944 1,100 1,067 1,006 963
Germany 985 990 883 883 864 852 804 764
Belgium 1,025 999 932 766 938 908 900 879
France 739 703 644 534 602 582 546 511
Ireland 1,175 1,327 1,232 910 1,248 1,084 864 1,010
Italy 690 718 693 595 614 636 614 641
Netherlands 1,130 1,253 1,078 929 1,025 1,019 1,011 895
Nordic countries 1,128 1,096 1,093 954 1,152 1,021 1,015 1,013
Portugal 684 673 563 465 566 656 555 596
United Kingdom 1,065 1,088 883 758 964 903 770 796
Russia 1,367 1,341 1,657 1,215 1,494 1,515 1,549 1,534
Switzerland 771 856 821 673 737 681 689 667
Rest of Europe 951 997 976 785 989 955 927 818
Argentina 1,897 1,871 2,801 (*) Estimate with high variability 2,053 (*) Estimate with high variability 1,968 1,904 1,966 2,134
Brazil 1,287 1,514 2,134 (*) Estimate with high variability 1,284 1,516 1,555 1,698 1,849
Canada 1,559 1,869 1,811 1,298 1,596 1,584 1,601 1,644
United States 1,722 1,570 1,553 1,828 1,594 1,558 1,611 1,693
Rest of America 1,788 1,867 1,957 1,965 1,846 2,006 2,039 2,153
Japan 2,395 2,953 2,450 1,888 1,706 1,789 1,992 2,061
China 2,567 2,273 (*) Estimate with high variability .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 2,301 (*) Estimate with high variability 2,277 2,224 1,860 2,180
Rest of the world 2,052 1,875 1,737 2,066 1,868 1,896 1,940 1,975
Average daily expenditure per person (€) 209 188 154 160 197 185 169 162
Germany 167 155 142 113 141 131 132 124
Belgium 163 146 136 90 138 130 139 128
France 134 127 117 100 110 105 97 96
Ireland 198 199 171 172 201 173 155 142
Italy 156 143 151 124 146 136 128 119
Netherlands 176 159 160 123 180 152 147 136
Nordic countries 207 212 155 144 206 199 187 185
Portugal 186 175 151 128 208 173 156 139
United Kingdom 210 191 152 148 174 157 136 138
Russia 209 165 104 191 186 184 171 166
Switzerland 142 152 121 99 117 135 116 110
Rest of Europe 186 205 176 172 186 182 156 160
Argentina 232 214 142 (*) Estimate with high variability 183 (*) Estimate with high variability 253 251 272 277
Brazil 284 238 225 (*) Estimate with high variability 186 271 284 244 237
Canada 287 298 216 266 314 291 287 275
United States 293 276 233 222 320 314 286 275
Rest of America 211 214 213 191 210 222 201 206
Japan 481 248 227 382 450 470 484 402
China 302 356 (*) Estimate with high variability .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 390 (*) Estimate with high variability 350 324 324 328
Rest of the world 362 298 236 349 352 348 319 322
Source: Idescat, based on data of the INE's Tourist Movement on Borders Survey and Tourist Expenditure Survey.
Notes:
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.
It considers information of foreign tourists expenditure 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.
(*) Estimate with high variability.
(..) Confidential data, low reliability or not available.

Last update: March 13, 2024.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Total declared expenditure
Expenditure declared by the subject as the costs of travel, accommodation and other expenses produced during the trip.
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 is obtained from the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur), for which the Institute of Tourism Studies (IET) is responsible. On the basis of the restricted-access databases provided by the IET, Idescat extends the results with greater disaggregation of the variables for Catalonia. Annual information is provided on overall expenditure, expenditure per person-trip and expenditure per person-day-trip as declared by the tourist.

Egatur is a continuous monthly survey conducted by personal interviews using a stratified random sample by country of residence, method of entry and border points. It is the basic statistical source for the analysis of the expenditure and behaviour of visitors (tourists and excursionists) that are not residents in Spain and that enter the country by road or air. It is directly linked to the Inbound Tourism Survey (Frontur), which provides technical support in the field, the control method and the framework of elevation of Expenditure Survey.

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.

In 2013, the tourist expenditure data was modified due to a historical revision of the IET's Egatur series.

Al gener del 2014 l'IET incorpora a l'estadística de Frontur la via d'accès amb creuer i amplia la cobertura dels viatgers que venen a Catalunya. Això implica que es considerin els viatgers internacionals en tràsit (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.

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.