The results of hotel performance in 2015 have been published and reveal that the highest level of hotel occupancy was in the Balearics. While the national average for the whole of the year was 57.1%, the rate in the Balearics was 75.6%, ahead of the Canaries with 74.4%, Valencia in 58.2% and Catalonia with 57.2%. However, when it comes to the measurement of overnight stays - often taken as a stronger indicator of performance - the Balearics scooped 25.1% of international tourist stays. This was three per cent down on 2014 and behind the Canaries with 28.4% and a rise of 1.6%. Catalonia was third in this respect, with 18.3% and a slight drop of 0.7%.
It was evident that the Balearics were more of a target for foreign tourists than for domestic tourists. In terms of overnight stays, Andalusia proved to be the most popular region. Its 21.4% of stays by Spanish visitors was up by 3.5%, while Catalonia's 14.2% shot up over ten per cent.
In the country as a whole - taking into account both foreign and domestic tourists - there was a 4.4% rise in overnight stays to a total of 308.1 million. The average length of stay was put at 3.3 nights, a drop of some 1.5% over 2014. Of all these overnight stays, almost 200 million of them were by foreign tourists and slightly more than two-thirds were concentrated into the months from May to October.
Hotel prices increased in 2015 by 4.6% and the average daily rate was 78.7 euros, a rise of almost 6%. The RevPAR ratio (revenue per available room) was up by 11% to almost 49 euros. Five-star hotels charged 173.5 euros on average, with four-stars requiring 84.3 euros and three-stars 64.4 euros.
The UK and German markets provided the most tourists and represented, respectively, 26.3% and 23.5% of the nation's total overnight stays. The UK market was up by 9.2%, while the German market dipped fractionally by 0.8%. The next three most important foreign markets were France, Italy and the Netherlands.