The Madrid Tourism Fair (Fitur) is not to be missed. There is a lot of money at stake and local administrations and entrepreneurs in the sector know it: we absolutely have to be at Fitur, and go into battle because in 2022, Spain became the main supplier of travelers to our islands and their spending that year was spectacular. In fact, Spaniards gave more work than ever to the Pitiusas cash registers: according to the data from the Balearic Institute of Statistics (Ibestat) their tourism expenditure amounted to 610.16 million euros, which accounted for 17.3% of the annual total (which was 3,530.46 million euros, an all-time record). This is not insignificant, especially considering that in 2019, before the health crisis broke out, Spanish spending was 250 million euros lower and accounted for only 11% of the total.
Nevertheless, Spaniards are still one of the lowest spending tourists when vacationing on our coasts: 709.68 euros per stay (of 6.2 days on average). The British spent 50% more last summer, 1,061.21 euros. Hence, although fewer British, Scots and Welsh visited us (822,076 in total) than Spaniards (859,775), they spent considerably more in the Pitiusas: 845.88 million euros, about 235 million euros more than our compatriots.
5.3 million overnight stays by Spaniards in 2022
In 2022 there were a total of 5.33 million overnight stays by Spaniards, 26.18% of the total (20.36 million) recorded.
Even so, the glass should be viewed as half full. Firstly, because never before have so many Spaniards visited Ibiza and Formentera, representing 25.45% of the total number of travelers (3,377,977) who arrived here in 2022, when in 2019 (610,764 Spanish visitors were recorded) they only accounted for 18.5% of the total. In 3 years throughout the pandemic they number of Spanish travellers has increased by 40.7% (249,011), which is enmormous and was something unimaginable at that time. In fact, in 2022 Spain became our main supplier of tourists (also in 2020 and in 2021, but as a consequence of health restrictions abroad, especially in Great Britain), above the United Kingdom, whose figures are still below those of 2019 (-90,000 tourists) and 2018 (-95,000). However, and barring the unexpected (new catastrophes or the adverse effects of inflation or labor and political problems suffered by the country led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak), the British will probably make up lost ground by 2023.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.