«Statistics of seasonal tourism – Changes in the tourist model».

CWT Meetings & Events, the division specialized in meetings and events, has announced its predictions about the ten most important cities in Europe in the MICE sector.

In Europe, Barcelona stands out positioning the third place while Madrid disappears from the Top 10. On the other hand, Vienna (6), Stockholm (7) Hamburg (5) and Frankfurt (7), which had disappeared from the ranking in 2018, re-enter for this next season.

The trend continues to mark London as number one, but current negotiations for the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union causes uncertainty about the agreements on airlines, visas and border controls; the popularity of London as a destination has not been seen. It also highlights the rise of Moscow to the second place that is given by the recent celebration of the soccer world cup FIFA2018.

Apart from Barcelona, ​​Berlin and Paris are still in line and remain in this group of privileged cities as the main tourist destination in congresses and events.

The classification is based on proprietary and industry data used in the 2019 Report on Future Trends in Meetings and Events, to be published later this week.

Forecast for 2019:

1. London. Maintains the same position as the previous season.
2. Moscow. It rises from the sixth position.
3. Barcelona. It rises from the fifth place.
4. Berlin. Upgrade from eighth place.)
5. Hamburg. It appears again in the ranking.
6. Vienna. He also appears again this season.
7. Stockholm. It is incorporated again in the ranking.
8. Cologne. Go up from ninth place.
9. Paris, Lower from second position
10. Frankfurt. He re-joins again in the Top10

The increase in spending per tourist compensates for the slight decrease in tourists.

Until August 31, the arrival of foreign tourists to Spain has remained stable and there has only been a slight fall of 0.1% to 57.3 million, however, has led to an increase of 2.8% in spending per tourist, which has raised the amount to 62,230 million euros. This is a revealing fact about the long-awaited change of model that many autonomous communities and companies in the sector are claiming in recent years.

According to the Statistics of Tourist Movements in Frontiers (Frontur) released in early September by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Spain received 10.2 million international tourists in August, which is 1.9% less that in the same period of 2017. It is the second consecutive month of decline, after the fall of 4.9% registered in July.

The drop in arrivals of British tourists (3.7%) and Germans (5.8%) stood out in August, compared to the 5.2% increase of French, Portuguese (8.4%) and US ( 8.1%).

The United Kingdom was the main issuing market in August with 2.2 million tourists, France was the second with 2.1 million and Germany, the third with 1.3 million.

Among the other countries of residence include the annual growth of tourists from Portugal and the United States.

On the other hand, foreign tourists who visited Spain in August spent 11,539 million euros, 1.8% more than in the same month last year, according to the survey data, also released by the INE.

The average daily expenditure in August was 139 euros, 10.7% more, and the average expenditure per tourist reached 1,131 euros, a figure 3.7% higher than in the same month of 2017, data that comfortably exceeds CPI, with an interannual variation in August of 2.2%.

With respect to the accumulated in the total of the first eight months of the year, the expense amounted to 62,230 million, 2.8% more than in the same period of the previous year.

Catalonia was the main destination for tourists in August, with 23.9% of the total, although the number of international visitors, which stood at 2.4 million, fell by 5% compared to August 2017.

The second destination was the Balearic Islands, where 2.3 million tourists arrived, 2% less than a year ago, and the third, Andalucía, with 1.4 million tourists, increased its percentage by 1.1%.

Catalonia was the main destination for tourists in August, with 23.9% of the total and 2.4 million visitors, however, they represent 5% less than in August 2017

In the accumulated of the year, the communities that received the most tourists were Catalonia (with more than 13.4 million and a decrease of 2.7% with respect to the same period of 2017), Balearic Islands (with almost 10.2 million and a decrease 0.8%) and the Canary Islands (with more than 9 million, 3% less).

Shorter stays

The duration of the majority stay among tourists in August was four to seven nights, with more than 4.2 million tourists and an annual increase of 4.4%.

The airport route was the one that served as the entrance to the largest number of tourists in August, with more than 7.4 million, which meant an annual decrease of 3%

By road, 1.3% more tourists arrived and 1.6% more per port; on the contrary, by rail accessed 6% less.

Leisure, recreation and vacations was the main reason for the trip to Spain for almost 9.4 million tourists in August, which meant an annual decrease of 2.2%.