Málaga, (EFE).- Hotel stays in Andalusia accounted for nearly 9.2 million travelers and 23.5 million overnight stays during the first half of this year, which represents increases of 10.7 and 10.5%, respectively, in relation to the same period in 2022.
The Andalusian Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bernal, has indicated that these results place the first half of 2023 as “the third best in the historical series”, according to the monthly report on the situation of the Andalusian hotel movement. Prepared from data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Bernal has especially highlighted the “strong rise” registered by foreign issuers. With more than 4 million visitors (+24%) and 12.8 million stays (+20%).
As for the national market, the records established in the destination during the past year are also exceeded. By registering more than 5 million travelers (+2%) and 10.7 million overnight stays (+0.8%).
This positive evolution has allowed Andalusia to occupy the third position in the classification of the hotel movement in Spain until June. With a quota of more than 15% of the total overnight stays.
The head of Tourism has stressed that the community remains “the main destination for overnight stays of national travelers.” With a weight of 20.2%. While among international visitors it is in fourth position in the country, with more than 13% of stays.
Seville leads the trend
The occupancy rate of Andalusian hotel establishments rose three points compared to 2022. Up to 51.69%, “having also increased the offer by 4.5%”, the Ministry pointed out in a statement.
Regarding hotel employment, it has registered an increase of 11.7% in the period analysed, with an average of 34,312 people employed.
By provinces, all have experienced growth up to June, a trend led by Seville, with a rise in relative terms of 16.9%. Followed by Almería (12.3%), Málaga (10.2%), Cádiz (10%), Córdoba (8.8%), Granada (7.9%), Huelva (4.4%) and Jaén (4%).
Regarding the data for June, overnight stays increased by 2.2%, to close to 5.6 million -the second best June in the historical series in stays- while travelers experienced a slight decrease, of 0.7%, to 1.9 million.
The report also contains a forecast for July, August and September, which makes it possible to forecast a year-on-year increase of 7.7% in the accumulated figure for the first nine months of this year, reaching close to 43.9 million. EFE