The year 2021 was expected to be the year of recovery after the economic disaster caused by the pandemic in 2020, which especially affected the tourism and hospitality sector. Mass vaccination only partially revitalized the sector, since the emergence of new variants like Omicron and their massive spread made it impossible for the recovery to be complete.
According to fresh data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), overnight stays in Spanish hotels reached the figure of 172.1 million in 2021 as a whole. This is 86.7% more than in 2020, but when the data is compared with 2019 (the last year of normality prior to the pandemic) the result is a 49.8% drop.
During 2021, the overnight stays of national travelers (residents) grew by 76.9% and those of non-residents (international tourists) increased by 98.9% compared to 2020. But if the data is compared with 2019, the nights spent by residents in Spain fell by 24.4% and those by non-residents by 63.4%.
The effects of Covid-19 and the restrictions are also reflected in the disaggregated figures for national and foreign tourism:
During 2021, the overnight stays of national travelers (residents) grew by 76.9% and those of non-residents (international tourists) increased by 98.9% compared to 2020. But if the data is compared with 2019, the nights spent by residents in Spain fell by 24.4% and those by non-residents fell by 63.4%.
Resident travelers (66.4% of the total) made 52.6% of the total overnight stays during 2021. For their part, non-residents were 33.6% of the total travelers and made 47.4% of hotel overnight stays.
Source: INE.
December figures
In December, overnight stays in hotel establishments exceeded 13.1 million, which is 306.3% more than in the same month of 2020, when there were 3.2 million. Considering the origin of the travelers, the overnight stays of residents exceeded 6.3 million (47.8% of the total). Those of non-residents were above 6.8 million.
If the data is compared with December 2019, overnight stays in hotel establishments show a 22.3% decrease. By origin, those of travelers residing in Spain fell by 10.2% and those of non-residents by 30.8%.
Source: INE.
The average stay increased by 18.3% compared to December 2020, standing at 2.7 overnight stays per traveler.
The Canary Islands, Andalusia and Catalonia were the main destinations of the travelers in Spain in December, with 33.4%, 13.8% and 13.8% of the total overnight stays, respectively.
