The Canary Islands was the preferred destination in apartments last March, with more than 2.5 million overnight stays and a decrease of 6.2% compared to March 2018. The islands also reach the highest occupancy, with 83% of the apartments offered, according to provisional data released Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
For tourist areas, the island of Gran Canaria is the preferred destination, with 890,767 overnight stays. The island of Lanzarote reaches the highest occupancy, of 89.9% of the apartments offered. The tourist spots with the highest number of overnight stays in March are San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Arona and Mogán.
At the national level, overnight stays made in Spain in non-hotel tourist accommodation (apartments, campsites and rural tourism accommodation) reached 6.8 million in March, representing a decrease of 12.6% compared to the same month of 2018.
This decline is due to the 29.8% decrease in overnight stays made by residents and 2.7% decrease in those made by foreigners. The average stay in March was 4.6 nights per traveler.
In March, 785,099 travelers residing in Spain made more than 1.98 million pernotations in non-hotel collective accommodation, in addition to the 4.1 million overnight stays made by 559,290 travelers from the rest of Europe and 712,589 overnight stays accounted for by 124,162 travelers from rest of the world.
During the first quarter of the year, overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodation fell by 6.9% compared to the same period of 2018.
Overnight stays in tourist apartments fell by 7.1% in March, mainly due to the fall of residents, with a decline of 21.6%, while those of residents fell by 3.1%.
The average stay decreased by 2.4% compared to March 2018, standing at 5.8 overnight stays per traveler.
The price index for tourist apartments (IPAP) increased by 0.6% in March compared to the same month of 2018. In March, 34% of the places offered by the tourist apartments were occupied, 4.1% less than the third month of 2018.
The weekend occupancy rate stood at 37.2%, with a decline of 3.2%. Overnight stays of non-residents in apartments accounted for 81.5% of the total. The United Kingdom continued being the first issuing market, with more than 1.1 million overnight stays, 1.7% more than in March of the previous year, followed by the German market, with 509,974 overnight stays, 8.6% less.
On the other hand, overnight stays in rural tourism accommodation fell by 25.4% in March after residents’ overnight stays decreased by 27.6% and those of non-residents fell by 15.4%.
With regard to prices, the price index for accommodation in rural tourism (IPTR) increased by 0.3% in March.
The degree of occupation of the places offered reached 12.7%, with a decrease of 24.9% compared to March 2018, while that of the weekends stood at 26.5%, with an annual decrease of 13%.
By autonomous communities, Castilla y León repeated as the preferred destination despite registering 23% fewer overnight stays, up to a total of 119,093. However, Canarias was the one that reached the highest degree of occupation, with 36.7% of the places offered. For tourist areas, the island of Mallorca was the preferred destination, with 45,072 overnight stays. The Corona Forestal Natural Park reaches the highest occupancy, with 43.5% of the places offered.
Overnight stays in campsites registered a decrease of 21.7% in March with respect to the same month of 2018, with a drop of 43.5% in those of residents and a slight drop of 0.7% in those of non-residents. The prices in campsites (IPAC) contracted 0.7% in March in interannual rate.
36% of the plots offered were occupied, 5.7% less than in the same month of last year, while the occupancy rate by weekend plots reached 37.6%, with an annual decrease of 5%. ,5%. 64.7% of the overnight stays in campsites were made by non-resident travelers, with the United Kingdom as the first issuing market, with 32.8% of the total number of overnight stays made by foreigners, 2% less than in March 2018.
The Valencian Community was the preferred destination in campsites, with 650,285 overnight stays, 10.6% less. This community is also the one that reaches the highest degree of occupation, with 66.6% of the plots offered. For tourist areas, the Costa Blanca is the preferred destination for camping, with 322,734 overnight stays, and an occupation of 79.2% of the plots offered. The tourist spots with the most overnight stays are Benidorm, Cartagena and Cabanes.
Overnight stays in shelters recorded a decrease of 6.1% in March, with a drop of 14.8% in residents while non-residents rose by 16.5%. 28.3% of the places were occupied, 3.9% less than in March 2018. The weekend occupancy rate reached 32.1%, 9.3% less.
By communities, Catalonia was the preferred destination, with 71,067 overnight stays, 5.3% more than in March 2018. The Community of Madrid was the community with the highest occupancy rate, with 63.9% of the places offered
