Nearly 3 million foreign tourists visited Catalonia between January and March

Barcelona (ACN).- The number of international tourists which visited Catalonia during the first trimester of 2017 grew by 4% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling 2,988,238. Thus, Catalonia continues to be the second most popular destination for international tourists which visit Spain, after the Canary Islands, which welcomed 3,661,246 visitors during the first three months of 2017. Indeed, one out of four international tourists in Spain went to Catalonia. In March alone, 1,151,664 visitors from across the globe travelled to Catalonia, 7% more than in the same month in 2016. Most of them (22%) came from France whereas 14% came from other countries in Europe.

In the whole of Spain, the number of international tourists during the first trimester of 2017 grew by 9.3% in comparison with the same period last year, reaching 12.9 million. Most of them (10.8 million) arrived by plane, which represents 11.7% more than in the first trimester of 2016. Those who arrived by sea grew by 16.1% in comparison to the same period last year whereas the number of visitors who arrived by road between January and March fell by 4.7% compared to the first three months of 2016. Their average stay is between four and seven nights.

In March alone 1,151,664 visitors from across the globe travelled to Catalonia, 7% more than in the same month in 2016. The number of international visitors registered in March in the whole of Spain also grew in comparison to the same month last year, but the figure is slightly smaller (6.1%) and totaled 4.9 million. In this case, the leading country of origin was the United Kingdom, which is home to 22% of the international tourists which visited Spain. Moreover, they grew by 5.8% in comparison to March 2016. Germany and France complete the podium.

Catalonia continues to be the second most popular destination for international tourists who visit Spain and the most popular on the peninsula. The top destination between January and March 2017 was the Canary Islands. This Autonomous Community was visited by 26.2% of the international tourists in Spain, whereas 23.5% included Catalonia and 14.7% Andalusia.