Foreign tourists (2001-2015 quaterly series). By origin

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.

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.

Tourist means a traveller who makes an overnight stay, while tripper means a traveller who does not make an overnight stay. The sum of tourists and trippers (including through travellers) is the total number of visitors.

Until the third quarter of 2015 Frontur survey was carried out by the Institute of Tourism Studies (IET). From the fourth quarter of 2015 on, the INE carries it out.

The arrival of tourists gather the number of people that do one or more overnight stays in a row in the same accommodation. Overnight stay means a night spent away from the habitual residence.

In March 2009 Idescat began to use a new estimate methodology. Data for 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been revised as the Frontur data include methodological changes. These changes enhance the estimates of data for travellers who come to Spain through ports and by road (coaches). All other access routes (airport, train and light vehicles on roads) are not affected by the changes.

In February 2011, the data from 2009 to 2010 was modified because it included records of foreign tourists arriving in Catalonia. The data on tourists and excursionists published since 2009 is therefore not directly comparable with the previous data.

According to the IET's methodological criteria, publication of the series on overnight stays by foreigners has been discontinued, so data is only offered in reference to travellers.

We must advert also that the results provided by the Idescat can present differences with other sources as a consequence of the differences in methodological criteria that exist in the moment of elaborating the data.

In January 2014 the IET incorporated cruise travellers into the Frontur statistics and expanded the information on train travellers. The coverage of travellers who come to Catalonia was thereby increased.

As for cruises, foreign cruise travellers in transit (in other words, those who, once they reach port, continue on their cruise) are regarded as international travellers. As for trains, the railway flows with France have been redesigned, giving more weight to high-speed train journeys and removing routes which are no longer in operation.

The data for Catalonia is always provisional. The data for Spain is definitive, except the last year.