Humphrey CarterMadrid05/02/2016 00:00
TW
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Spending by foreign tourists in the Balearics last year rose by more than 6% and totalled 11,012 million euros. This increase was, according to the national tourism ministry's latest Egatur report on tourist expenditure, below a national average increase of 6.8%. However, that figure was skewed by performance in Andalusia. The rise there was 10.7%, the highest in the country. The Balearics, though below the national average, still registered the second highest increase after Andalusia.

For Spain as a whole, foreign tourist spending rose to 67,385 million, an increase in line with what was a third consecutive year when the number of tourists also increased. The spend was up from 63,000 million in 2014 on the back of an almost five per cent rise in the number of tourists.

The spending was at its greatest in Catalonia, which attracts more tourists than any other region. It accounted for over 23% of all spend (15,813 million), followed by the Canaries with 12,859 million and then the Balearics. Andalusia was fourth with 10.346 million.

The British spent more than any other nationality - 14,057 million, a rise of more than 10% - followed by the Germans with 9,837 million, a drop of almost 2%, and the French with 7,074 million (up nearly 8%). Behind the French came the Scandinavian countries with 5,676 million (a fall of 2.3%) and Italy, up by almost 15% to 3,153 million.

In December, spending in the Balearics increased by 5.7% to 82 million, with average daily spending per tourist at 107 euros and average spending per stay at 981 euros: both these figures were down, though only by 0.1% in the case of the latter, compared with December 2014.

Total December foreign tourist spend in Spain rose by 8.5% to 3,682 million, with average daily spend up slightly to 115 euros. The average length of stay in December was 9.2 days, which was also a slight increase.

The Canaries, Catalonia and Andalusia were the regions with the greatest portions of tourist spending in December. The Canaries accounted for more than 30%, with Catalonia 21% and Andalusia 16%. However, in the Canaries the total was down by 1.5% to 1,155 million euros, while it was up significantly in both Catalonia and Andalusia: by 17.5% and 18.4% respectively to 770 million and 584 million. The Balearics were well down the December list, with Madrid and Valencia higher. The other eleven regions of Spain together managed 327 million euros, a rise of 34%.

The British were, once more, responsible for spending the most in December: 708 million, an increase of 19%. The Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) ranked second with 426 million, which was unchanged compared with December 2014. The German market was third with 413 million (down 11.5%), with the French fourth on 280 million, a decrease of 1.7%.