Half the Costa Brava tourists stay in rented apartments

Girona (ACN).- The Costa Brava received 6,5 million visitors in 2009. According to latest estimations of Costa Brava-Girona Pyrenees Tourism Council, up to 3 million tourists stayed at coastal apartments. This figure means that almost half the visitors to the Girona coast choose this kind of accommodation. Tourism Council data also shows that around 39,000 jobs are created from tourism in the area, that 55% of all visitors are from abroad and that the most highly rated aspect of the coastline is the natural heritage.

In order to draw up the Strategic Touristic Plan 2011-2015 for the region, the Costa Brava-Girona Pyrenees Council of Tourism has carried out several studies about tourism in the region that has highlighted some of its specific characteristics. One of these is that almost half of the 2009 Costa Brava tourists did not stay at any regulated place like hotels, camping or rural cottages. The Council estimates of 6,5 million tourists, between 2.5 and 3 million had rental apartments.

Rental apartments have no clear regulations so the Council has little information on this sector. At the moment it considers that there are 457 companies operating in the field, plus those individual owners that rent apartments in other ways. Therefore, the Council has no exact information as to where almost half of the tourists stay when they visit the Costa Brava.

Council director Dolors Batallé said the fact that there is a “significant number” of tourists staying at non-identified accommodation is an “undesirable situation”. “If we want to guarantee the quality of the service we need greater information and capacity to act” she assured.

The Costa Brava has almost 200,000 regulated accommodation properties (hotels, rural cottages and camping) but the Council does not know how many tourist apartments are available so there is no way to know exactly where the tourists that do not choose hotel, rural cottage or camping stay when they come to the Costa Brava. 58% of regulated accommodation options are camp sites. As for the number of hotel vacancies (more than 79,000), Batallé underlined the quality of the improvements, as four and five star hotels have grown 58% over the last five years. 

Brand recognition

Council data also highlights that the Costa Brava brand is currently the second most recognized destination for foreign tourists, just beaten by Barcelona. 79% of tourists from abroad polled said they know about the Girona coastline.

The study shows the importance of tourism for the Girona economy. It generates jobs for 39,000 people, directly employed in the tourism sector, such as the 10,5% of hotel industry workers. As for the evolution of tourism, the study reveals that -without counting those tourists that stayed in non-regulated accommodation, 4.6 million people visited Girona in 2010, generating 20 million euros on overnight stays. These numbers mean an increase of 8,2% compared to 2009.

Batallé also said they have done fieldwork about tourists’ motivations when they decide to visit the region. From several interviews and surveys, the first reason for visiting the Costa Brava are the beaches (14,5%), followed by the natural landscape (10,7%).