Total Expenditure Survey

68.9% of total expenditure in September was made by tourists who stayed overnight in hotel accommodation, an annual increase of 10.1%. On the other hand, expenditure on non-market accommodation increased by 27.2%.

Expenditure by tourists not travelling with a package tour increased by 14.0% in annual terms. For those who contracted a package tour, it increased by 9.6%.

In terms of the reason for travel, tourists visiting Spain for leisure generated 88.2% of total expenditure, with a 12.5% higher outlay than in September 2023.

The Autonomous Communities of main destination with the greatest weight in tourist spending in September were Illes Balears (with 21.4% of the total), Cataluña (19.6%) and Andalucía (15.0%). Tourist expenditure increased by 7.6% in annual rate in Illes Balears, 15.9% in Cataluña and 16.5% in Andalucía.

The main objective of the Tourist Expenditure Survey (EGATUR) is to obtain monthly information on the tourist expenditure made by non-residents in Spain in their trips to our country. In preparing it, the international definitions and recommendations of the UNWTO and EUROSTAT in this field are followed.

Type of operation:

continuous monthly statistics.

Population scope:

this refers to non-residents in Spain who enter our country, whether or not they have stayed overnight, as well as those who pass through our country in transit.

Geographical scope:

the entire national territory. The sample is collected at the main access points for non-resident travelers (road, airport, port and rail).

Reference period of the results:

the month.

Sample size:

The theoretical annual sample size of EGATUR exceeds 127,000 surveys, which are distributed throughout the year according to the seasonality of the flow of passengers and to the sample design, which is defined for each access road independently, setting a fraction of the sub-sampling from the FRONTUR sample.

Type of sampling:

Single stage, where the estimates of the FRONTUR survey are used as the target population to which the EGATUR data are elevated.

Collection method:

the information is collected by direct interviews when the traveller leaves Spain, using a multilingual electronic questionnaire. It is important to note that the survey is administered to the visitors when they are leaving the country, so the information collected could refer to a longer period than the reference month.

For more information you can access the methodology and the standardized methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.