The Canaries had an increase of 9.7% more international tourists in May

According to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Tuesday, the number of international tourists that came to the Canary Islands in May this year, increased by 9.7% over last year with 969,343 visitors. In addition to this, the year-to-date increase is even higher at 21%, with 5.9 million visitors so far in 2023.

During May, the Canary Islands ranked as the region with the fifth-highest number of tourist arrivals, with an 11.8% market share. The Balearic Islands had the most with 21.9%, followed by Catalonia with 21.8%, then Andalusia (14.7%), and Valencia (12.2%). The United Kingdom remained the primary source market, accounting for 43.9% of foreign tourists, followed by Germany at 14.8%.

Tourist spending also saw an increase of 3.6%, amounting to 1.27 billion euros. The average expenditure per tourist was €1,312 which is 5.6% less compared to the same month last year. However, the average daily expenditure rose to €167, representing a 6.5% increase.

The average duration of stay has increased to 7.9 days which when compared to May 2019, the reference year before the pandemic, international tourist arrivals grew by 8.3%, and spending increased by 15.8%.

Record tourist figures in Spain for May:
Nationally, Spain received a record-breaking 8.2 million international tourists in May, marking a 17.6% rise from the same month in 2022 and a 3.8% increase from May 2019. These visitors also contributed to a record expenditure in May, reaching 9.7 billion euros, an increase of 20.8% compared to the previous year and 19.5% when compared to the pre-pandemic peak.

In the first five months of the year, Spain has had 29.2 million international visitors, experiencing a growth of 27.9% compared to the previous year, with total spending reaching 35.4 billion euros, a 31.9% increase from the same period in the previous year and 15.8% above 2019.