Madrid (EFE).- The Canary Islands registered in March the highest hotel occupancy by places offered in Spain, 72%, and concentrated 41.6% of the overnight stays made in establishments in the country by non-residents, according to the INE.
Overnight stays in hotel establishments rose 17.1% in March compared to the same month of the previous year, to more than 20.6 million, while prices grew 10.5%, accumulating 22 months of continuous increases.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), non-resident travelers spent 12.6 million nights and nationals eight million.
During the first three months of 2023, overnight stays increased by 26.6% compared to the same period of the previous year and reached a level similar to that of that period in 2019, before the pandemic.
The hotel nights consumed in March are slightly less than a million below the pre-covid figures, which could be exceeded in April due to the boost of Easter, since hoteliers forecast higher figures than then.
THE HOSTELS, THOSE THAT RISE THE MOST
Prices are also above before the pandemic, with consecutive increases for 22 months, practically all at rates above 10% and even with values close to 30% in April of last year.
The sector explains this increase by the need to recover what was lost in the pandemic, by the strength of the demand and by the repositioning towards higher categories.
However, in March the largest increase occurred in one-star hostels (18.3%), followed by two- and three-star hostels (13%). Five-star hotels rose 8.6%, four-star hotels 10.3% and three-star hotels 11.7%.
By autonomous community, the highest increases in hotel prices compared to March 2022 occurred in Catalonia (18.2%) and Melilla (13.5%), while the smallest increase was recorded in Cantabria (0.3%). .
The average daily billing of hotels for each occupied room (ADR in English) was 99.3 euros in March, which represents an increase of 11% compared to the same month in 2022.
For its part, the average daily revenue per available room (RevPAR in English) – conditioned by occupancy and which best approximates profitability – reached 62.2 euros, with a rise of 23.8%.
The tourist spot with the highest ADR (172.5 euros) was Alto Aran, in Lleida, coinciding with the ski season, while the highest RevPAR was in Adeje (Tenerife), in the middle of the high season on the islands, with 148, 9 euro.
UNITED KINGDOM AND GERMANY CONTINUE TO BE THE LEADING ISSUERS
The average stay decreased by 4% compared to March 2022, standing at 2.8 overnight stays per traveller.
Travelers from the United Kingdom and Germany concentrated 23.5% and 18.1%, respectively, of the total overnight stays of non-residents in hotel establishments in March.
Nights spent by travelers from France, the United States and Italy (the next source markets) account for 6.7%, 5.3% and 4.6% of the total, respectively.
Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Catalonia were the main destinations for travelers residing in Spain in March, with 19.8%, 13.6% and 12.9% of the total overnight stays, respectively.
Foreigners mainly opted for the Canary Islands, with 41.6% of the total overnight stays, followed by Catalonia and Andalusia, with 16.4% and 14.0% of the total, respectively.
In March, 52% of the places offered were covered, with an annual increase of 11.9%. The weekend occupancy rate by bedplaces rose 7.9% and stood at 59.5%.
The Canary Islands presented the highest degree of occupancy by beds during March (71.7%) followed by Madrid, with 56%. EFE