PALMA
THE Balearics were the leading region in hotel occupation in September, with 80.7 percent of places occupied and 7.8 million overnight stays, according to figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The islands were also the main destination chosen by non residents in September. These people accounted for 38.4 percent of the total overnight stays by foreigners, which increased by 0.6 percent on the islands in comparison with the same month last year.
Overnight stays by foreign tourists in hotels on the islands reached 7.1 million, while those made by residents in Spain reached 658'360 with an average stay of 6.9 days.
Majorca was also the tourist area with the highest occupation, with 83.5 percent of the places available in September occupied. Majorca was also the area with the highest number of overnight stays, with more than 5.9 million. The tourist areas with the highest number of overnight stays were Madrid, Calvia, Benidorm, and Barcelona. For its part, Santanyi (Majorca) recorded the highest level of occupation, with 92.7 percent of places occupied.
With regard to the Hotel Income Index, the four regions which made up 69.6 percent of this index of income per place occupied were the Balearics, Catalonia, Andalucia and the Canary Islands. They recorded inter annual figures of 7, 3.7, 2.5, and 0.7 percent respectively. Finally, the Hotel Income Index increased by 5.1 percent in September.
Throughout the whole of Spain, during the first nine months of the year there were 220.5 million overnight stays, some two percent more than during the same period last year, with increases of 1.8 percent in those made by residents and 2.1 percent for foreigners. The average stay was 3.3 nights per tourist, some 1.3 percent less than in 2006.