International tourists quadruple in January but reach only half of 2019 figures

The tourism sector is slowly getting back on its feet with a sharp increase in the number of tourists welcomed to Catalonia in January 2022.

In the first month of the year, the territory received 463,661 international visitors, up by 442.7% on 2021’s figures, according to preliminary data shared on Thursday by the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE).

Despite the huge increase, the number of tourists is only half of that who came in January 2019, when 910,779 tourists visited Catalonia from all over the world.

The economic impact of those visiting the territory has also increased by 467% compared to the same month in 2021. Visitors spent an overall of €436 million, an average of €941 per traveler.

However, the average spending is still far lower when compared to January 2019, when INE recorded an impact of €944 million.

Catalonia welcomes European visitors

The amount of international visitors in Catalonia are quite different from those compared to Spain. While the Catalan territory mainly welcomed French residents, Spain was mostly visited by travelers from the United Kingdom.

For Catalonia, French visitors accounted for 25.3% of the visits, while 22.7% of tourists came from other European countries. The average stay in the Catalan territory was eight days.

On the other hand, Spain welcomed 2.5 million visitors in January 2022, 467.7% more than the previous year. In this case, the United Kingdom, with 363,150 tourists (14.6% of the total) was the main tourist departure point.

Other nationalities include French citizens with 347,955 tourists, an increase of 1,956% on 2021, and Germany, welcoming 282,280 visitors, an increase of 452.2%.

Catalonia, top destination

18.6% of international visitors in Spain decided to travel to Catalonia in January 2022.

The number of tourists placed the territory as the second most visited destination in Spain after the Canary Islands, receiving 30.6% of visitors, and ahead of Andalusia, welcoming 13% of the overall travelers in the country.

While people chose Catalonia as their place to go in January, tourists did not spend that much money compared to other territories.

In Madrid, people spent an average of €1,555, in the Canary Islands, visitors spent a total of €1.13 billion meaning an average of €1,487 per person, Andalusia saw spending of €1,161 per tourist, while in Valencia, tourists spent €1,148.

Catalonia was placed on the fifth position in this list, as travelers paid an average of €200 less compared to Valencia.