Tourism represented 12.2% of Spain’s GDP in 2022, equivalent to 159,490 million euros and 1.4% more than in 2019, before the pandemic, sector association Exceltur revealed this Tuesday.
Exceltur, which includes large companies directly and indirectly linked to the tourism sector in Spain (accommodation, transportation, travel agencies, car rental, reservation centers, and others), revealed that the past year “marks the complete recovery of tourism activity in Spain.”
According to Exceltur data, released in a study published quarterly, Spain’s “tourist GDP” last year amounted to about 159.490 million euros, 2,135 million euros more than in 2019, and 62,363 million euros more than in 2021.
The weight of tourism in Spain’s total economy in 2022 was 12.2%, just below the 12.6% that affected Spain’s GDP in 2019.
The association said that employment levels in tourism companies in Spain have recovered and also exceeded those before the pandemic, with the number of workers increasing by 1.4% at the end of last year compared to 2019.
However, according to the same report, “the marked recovery in revenues in 2022 was not observed or transmitted with the same intensity to the results” of companies in the sector, due to increases in inflation-related costs, such as energy-related expenses. . which increased by 28.9%.
Domestic demand was the most contributor to the recovery of Spanish tourism, especially after April, after the last wave of Covid-19 and the end of most of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
Overnight stays in Spanish hotels by residents of the country grew by 4.4% in 2022, compared to 2019, according to Exceltur.
However, the association recorded a “strong recovery” in Spain’s demand for foreign tourists, focusing on markets such as Mexico (17.6% increase in overnight stays compared to 2019) and European markets such as the countries of the Netherlands (13% increase), Luxembourg and Belgium (5.6% increase %), Ireland (7.2%), Portugal (5.9%) and France (up 0.6%).
On the other side are markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy or the Nordic countries, where the number of overnight stays of tourists from these countries fell, last year, less than those recorded in 2019 in Spain.
For 2023, Exceltur expects to consolidate tourism recovery in Spain, despite the “context of greater weakness in the global economy and geopolitical uncertainty”.
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