Rural tourism is on the rise in the Basque Country thanks to British, German and Italian visitors

Thanks to its summer climate, attractive landscapes and gastronomy, rural tourism has always been one of the Basque Country’s strengths. So much so that this is the community where this type of tourism leaves the highest average spending per person per day: 88 euros on average, according to the Rural Tourism Observatory, and 2,112 euros on average for the total trip.

However, despite the good data that has been recorded for decades, which in turn drives creativity and commitment to making this type of tourism visible, according to the latest data from the Basque Institute of Statistics, Entry rates into rural accommodation in the Basque Country fell by 1.4% last month. Data that, although they break the positive trend, will not be significant according to Edoya Ezcordia, director of Nekatur, the rural lodging association in Euskadi, because although the number of admissions to accommodations decreases, the number of nights spent by tourists in them increases by 3.1%. . In this way, during the past month, 26,931 admissions and 98,305 overnight stays were recorded.

“We’re evaluating well because what What concerns us is the occupancy rate, which according to our data exceeded 80%, and billing“The average cost of accommodation per person has grown significantly in recent years, reaching 31 euros per person per night, to which 57 euros should be added, as the average cost per person for restaurants and entertainment,” explains Director Nicator.

Although they are aware of the notorious boom in shared tourist apartments – which has increased by 40% in the last five years – Nicator insists: “We are maintaining a streak of continuous growth year after year. 2020 has been a special year but we can confirm You know that in 2021 and 2022 many people chose our method, and this year we have data similar to last year.

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Who is close to the international tourist

In 2020 and 2021 – affected by the coronavirus – the majority of visitors who chose rural tourism were local, Basque and state-run visitors. 2022 was the year that stabilized and 2023 has been an affirmation and increase for foreign customers“, he describes. Foreign tourists now represent an average of 30% of total rural tourism, and they depart in months such as August, where they amount to 41.4% of total admissions and 39.1% of overnight stays. “Above all, Most prominently, the French tourist, but also from other origins such as Germany, the UK, Italy… that is, the European customer.”

As for the national tourist, he confirms this nonetheless Regulars from Madrid, Catalonia and Valencia keep coming, and this year there has been an increase in the number of Andalusian visitors. “Also from the rest of southern Spain. We think it has a direct connection to the weather because they phoned us and assured us they wanted more moderate temperatures,” he adds.

As for the most visited areas, they are Guipuzcoa, followed by Bizcaya and Alava, “because of the coastal demand and because the size of the supply is distributed in this order.” So the most visited areas are The coastal area of ​​Diba, Ordaibai and La Llanada Alavesa -In addition to Rioja Alavesa, where the occupancy rate this season is close to 100% due to the harvest-. It also differentiates between the times of the year in which they arrive in the region. “The strongest are July and August, Easter and Christmas,” although he stresses that Nicator has been “struggling in recent years to break this seasonality and ensure tickets are not dependent on the weather.”

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