Tourism has grown considerably in Bizkaia this summer
Pre-pandemic figures have been surpassed, with increases of 12.55% and 10.33%, respectively, with respect to the summer of 2019 and overall figures of 561,342 visitors and 1,149,046 overnight stays between June and August this year. Bilbao continues to be the main focus of concentration of tourists (66.5% of the entries in hotel establishments) although there is a growing interest of tourists to discover and visit other areas of the territory.
This is reflected in the results of the Bizkaia Tourism Observatory presented by the Deputy for Economic Promotion, Ainara Basurko, which indicate that the capital of the territory and Busturialdea-Urdaibai are the most visited areas this summer. Moreover, in line with the trend that has been consolidating in recent times of redistribution of visitor flows towards the regions, data have been collected such as the great growth experienced by the Left Bank, which has gone from 25.3% of tourists who say they have visited it during their stay to 52.9%.
Significant increases have also been recorded in counties such as Lea Artibai (from 9.6% to 34.6%), Arratia Nerbioi (from 1.1% to 9.2%), Uribe Kosta (from 17.3% to 23.2%) and Enkarterri (from 3.2% to 6.5%). Busturialdea-Urdaibai, Right Bank and Durangaldea also show increases in interest in visiting, but more moderate than in the previous cases, and Bilbao experiences a reduction with respect to 2019, from 94.8% of tourists who had visited during their stay in 2019 to 83.2% who have done so this summer.
Increased spending
Another of the positive indicators included in the Bizkaia Tourism Observatory is the notable increase in spending by tourists during their stay, a rise of 49.2%, reaching an average of 794.4 euros.
In general, those arriving from foreign markets spent 6.3% more than national tourists. Among the former, the highest expenditure was made by the British (1,015.8 euros), who have almost doubled what they spent on average in 2019 (575 euros) and the lowest, those who came from Germany (768.4 euros), although they have increased their spending by almost 200 euros compared to 2019.
In the national market, Andalucía stands out, with an average expenditure of 819.3 euros (in 2019 it was 574.80), while Madrid is the one with the lowest expenditure: 785.4 euros per stay.
Accommodation and restaurants are the concepts in which the most is spent (an average of 333.3€ in accommodation and 255.9€ in restaurants), but activities in destination have experienced a significant growth in spending, from an average of 60.2€ per stay in the summer of 2019 to an average of 129.3€ in the summer of 2022, being the state market the one that spends the most on them (130.6€ compared to 125.3€ of the foreign public).
Society's perception
The Tourism Observatory also analyses how the people of Bizkaia experience the presence of tourists. In this regard, it is worth highlighting among the data collected this summer that the perception that tourism is beneficial has increased among citizens -97.4% of those surveyed consider it to be so, compared to 96.9% in 2019- and, furthermore, there is a great sense of pride in the fact that so many tourists want to visit and get to know Bizkaia (93.8% of those surveyed say they feel this pride), a feeling that has grown with respect to 2019, when 87.8% mentioned it.
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