Spending by foreign tourists in the Balearics from January to September increased by getting on for seven per cent. Figures from the national tourism ministry’s Egatur survey of tourist spend show that these tourists parted with 9,930 million euros over the first nine months of 2015 - a rise of 6.6% to be precise. In addition, the average expenditure per tourist also rose, albeit by a lower rate of 4% to 953 euros.
In September, the Balearics accounted for 22.4% of total tourist spend in Spain, this being valued at 1,612 million euros, a growth of 1.7% and slightly behind the national leader - Catalonia - with 1,673 million euros. This increase in the Balearics was despite a small decrease in the number of arrivals, but is attributed principally to the strong performance of the British and Italian tourism markets.
The Balearic nine-month spend figure was second behind Catalonia, where there was a rise of 2.4% to 12,502 million euros.
Catalonia, therefore, accounted for over 23% of all tourist spend between January and September. After the Balearics in second spot came the Canaries. Here, spend rose by almost 5% to a level not far off that of the Balearics - 9.540 million euros.