Foreign tourist spending increases by 11% in January

Foreign tourists spent a total of 912 million euros in January, an increase of 11.1% from 2017. The number of visitors from abroad coming to Catalonia also increased by 2% in the first month of the year, according to the latest figures.

The average daily expenditure was 1,056 euros in January, 9% more than the same period last year. According to the statistics, foreign tourists generally stay in the country for six days, also marking an increase of 1.4 days from 2017.

The majority of foreign tourists spending their holidays in the country came from France, contributing 20% to the total of visitors from abroad.

Most tourists entered the country through airports, 3.5 million in total, 5.3% more than January last year.

Decrease in last quarter

The new secretary-general of the UN’s World Tourism Organization (WTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, recently stated that tourism in Catalonia decreased by between 15% and 20% during the last quarter of 2017. However, he demonstrated optimism that the number of tourists arriving “at the beginning of 2018 will grow.” This decrease of tourists coincided with the political turmoil last autumn, including the Spanish police violence during the October 1 referendum and the declaration of independence and removal of Catalan government in late October.