Domestic Tourists Drop Almost 7 Percent

As hotels continue to increase their prices and profits without the excuses they have used in recent years, the net result when it comes to domestic tourism is that fewer people are traveling, but those who are pay more, so the corporate profiteers are not losing out.

According to the latest figures published by the Institute of National Statistics (INE) this week, the number of trips made by residents in Spain fell by 6.9% in the second quarter of the year and stood at 45.1 million, but the total expenditure rose by 3.9% to over 13.8 billion euro.

The main autonomous communities where Spanish tourists travelled in the second quarter of the year were Andalusia (16.6% of the total), Catalonia (14.2%) and the Valencian Community (10.4%), with Madrid residents being the main traveller.

Spaniards travelled less in the second quarter of the year, although they spent more, partly due to the increase in trips abroad. Of the more than 45 million trips, almost 40.5 million took place within Spain, which represents a decrease of 8.3%. On the other hand, trips abroad rose by 7.8% to 4.6 million.

According to the data of the statistical institute, the average duration of overnight stays was about 3.3 days, in the case of domestic trips the duration was 2.9 days, while for trips abroad the average was about 6.2 days.

Travel for leisure, recreation and vacation fell by 4.9% in the second quarter, and visits to family or friends also fell by 12.3%. Travel for business and other professional reasons also decreased by 10.6%.

By type of accommodation, domestic trips where residents stayed with relatives or friends fell by 20.4%. In trips abroad, hotel accommodation increased by 13.9%.

It must once again be noted that the hotel sector profiteering by these higher prices were against a minor “tourist tax” in the Valencia region, because they said it would damage the sector, which has never been the case t=where the tax already exists and where tourists contribute to the local services and infrastructure, but the hoteliers won thanks to the support of the regional government who have given them a free pass to profiteer without contributing to the costs carried by the residents in these area,