According to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), there has been a 6.5% increase in overnight stays from January to October 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Additionally, the number of overnight stays has exceeded the figures recorded in the same period of 2019.
INE’s data reveal that October 2023 has been the best month so far, with 32.4 million overnight stays, a historical record, and an increase of 8.7% compared to October 2022.
Looking at the foreign tourists who visited Spain from the beginning of the year until October, we can see that foreigners in five-star hotels made up 8.8% of overnight stays in Spanish hotels. This is five percentage points more than the 3.7% of overnight stays in Spanish hotels of Spaniards staying in this type of accommodation. Foreign tourists accounted for more than 1.2 million overnight stays, representing 84.8% of the nights spent in the most luxurious hotel category.
This year, hotel rates per night in Spain have increased; for the first time in October, they have exceeded 100 euros per night. This is unusual, as these prices are more typical of the summer season before the pandemic. Despite this, people are still traveling and booking hotels. Madrid and Barcelona are the cities where luxury tourism is concentrated, and Madrid leads with an increase of 20% and an average price of 153 euros per night.
On the other hand, overnight stays until October in four-star Spanish hotels accounted for 54% of the total reservations. In this period, foreign tourists have made up 75% of overnight stays, with 13.2 million nights in this category.
Foreigners and Spanish tourists make sustainable use of 3-star hotels, with 24.2% and 26.2%, respectively. Two-star hotels accounted for 3.6% of overnight stays by foreigners, while one-star accommodations accounted for 1.5%.
Foreign overnight stays exceeded 22 million, with 70.2% by foreigners and the remaining 9.6 million by residents in Spain from January to October.