The Valencian Community has registered a new record of foreign tourist arrivals for the first half of the year with 5,309,844 international tourists, 19.9% more than in the same period in 2023; and a record outlay of 6,436 million euros, which represents a year-on-year increase of 28%, one of the highest recorded at national level.
The market that has contributed most to this increase in accumulated foreign spending in the Valencian Community has been the British market, which has spent 1,578 million euros up to June, 33% more than in the same half of the previous year. This is followed by the Nordic market, which has spent 767.3 million euros, 37.4% more, and France, which, with 703.2 million euros spent, has increased its spending by 17.6% year-on-year.
This is evident from the results of the surveys published this Friday by the INE, and referring to Tourist Movements at the Border (Frontur) and the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur).
These are the best results in the entire historical series, thus continuing the upward trend in foreign tourism in recent months. From January to June, each visitor spent an average of 1,212 euros in the Valencian Community, 6.6% more than the previous year, with an average stay of 9.3 days, 4.3% higher than in 2023. The average daily expenditure stands at 130 euros, which represents a year-on-year growth of 2.3%.
The regional minister for Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Nuria Montes, considered these figures to be “support for the policies developed by the Government of Carlos Mazón” and stated that the increase in spending “shows a qualitative leap in our tourism after a few years in which the Valencian Community had lost its competitive position among Spanish tourist regions”. “Our success is not measured by volume, but by how the spending of foreign tourists is increasing”, she added.
Tourist arrivals by markets
By market, the most important nationality for the Valencian Community continues to be the United Kingdom, with the arrival of 1,419,811 Britons in the first half of the year, 18.7% more than in 2023.
France is next with 823,189 tourists, 18% more than in the same period last year; the Nordic countries with 487,095 tourists, 22.6% more than in the same period last year; and the Netherlands, with 397,308 visitors, representing a growth of 17.3%.
June month results
In June alone, international tourists visited the Valencian Community to the tune of 1,120,102, an increase of 19.5% year-on-year; and spent 1,403 million euros, which represents an increase of 26.3% compared to June last year. In this same month, each visitor spent an average of 1,253 euros, 5.7% more; and spending per day reached 132 euros, 2.7% more year-on-year. The length of stay for the majority of tourists was 9.5 days with 10.6 million overnight stays, which represents an increase of 23% compared to June 2023.
By market, the main emitters were the British, French and Nordic countries, the latter with a significant year-on-year increase of 41.2%. Arrivals of Italians rose in June by 25.2% and those of Germans by 3%.