The North American market continues to grow while the UK leads.

The North American market continues to grow while the UK leads. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

Humphrey CarterPalma03/02/2025 11:50
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Last year, the Balearics handled a total of 15,311,569 international tourists, 6.15% more than the previous year according to the Border Tourist Movement Survey, published on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which indicates that in December alone, 182,446 international tourists visited the region, 10.18% more. In general, Spain received 5.3 million international tourists in December, 1.1% more than in the same month of 2023. For the whole of 2024, the number of tourists reached its highest figure, close to 93.8 million, a figure that marks a new all-time high and is 10.1% more than in 2023.

This new record number of tourists led to a 16.1% increase in their total expenditure compared to 2023, reaching 126.282 billion euros, also marking a new high in the INE’s historical series.
The main countries of residence of tourists visiting Spain during 2024 were the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The number of travellers resident in the United Kingdom increased by 6.6% last year, to 18.4 million, while those from France rose by 10.3%, to 12.9 million, and those from Germany increased by 8.6%, to 11.9 million.

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However, visitors from Asia experienced the highest growth, with a cumulative variation rate of +14.2% compared to the previous year. For its part, the United States consolidated its position as an important source market with 4.2 million tourists (+11.2%). In terms of international spending, the country that spent the most in 2024 was the United Kingdom, with a total of 22,602 million euros, 13.5% more than in 2023. It was followed by Germany (with 15,527 million and an increase of 17.6%) and France (with 11,014 million, 13.1% more).

During 2024, Catalonia was the autonomous community that received the most tourists, followed by the Balearics and the Canary Islands. More than 19.9 million tourists visited Catalonia (9.7% more than in 2023), 15.3 million in the Balearics (+6.1%), and 15.2 million in the Canary Islands (+9.1%).
They were followed by Andalusia (13.5 million and +11.5%) and the Valencian Community, which is the autonomous region with the highest year-on-year growth in 2024, at 14%, to over 11.9 million.
Madrid, for its part, received 8.8 million international tourists, which is 12.5% more than during the same period the previous year. The rest of the regions as a whole grew by 10.6% compared to last year.

In terms of expenditure, the autonomous communities that concentrated the highest total expenditure in 2024 were Catalonia (with 23,745 million, 11.8% more than in 2023), the Canary Islands (with 22,887 million and an increase of 12.6%) and the Balearics (with 20,052 million, 13.3% more than in 2023 ). In terms of international spending, the country that spent the most in 2024 was the United Kingdom, with a total of 22,602 million euros, 13.5% more than in 2023. It was followed by Germany (with 15,527 million and an increase of 17.6%) and France (with 11,014 million, 13.1% more).