Map of Andalucia showing 8 provinces |
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International Tourist Statistics for Andalucia
2024 figures - the recovery continues
Official data from INE (National Statistics Institute, (see table below) 2024 recorded 13.6 million international arrivals to Andalucia, 13% more than 2019 benchmark year and 12% more than 2023. British tourists have been slower to recover from the Covid years, with 2.8 million arrivals to Andalucia, 93% of the 2019 benchmark year. September 2024 had peaked and was the first full 'recovery month' since Covid, at 106% of September 2019. however October 2024 fell back to 93% and December further to 88% of 2019.
2023 figures - the recovery
For 2023 recorded 12.2 million international arrivals to Andalucia, a record year, just overtaking the 12.02 million in 2019. This means that international tourism numbers in Andalucia returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, which is a hugely significant moment for the tourism industry here.
Figures should only be compared to those from 2019 (see below), the last "normal" year, to indicate the recovery of tourism after the pandemic. International tourists to Andalucia are defined as those making an overnight stay, whose country of residence is not Spain, and whose main destination in Spain is to Andalucia.
However international arrivals in 2023 were not the same for all countries. The UK, which is the biggest country for tourist arrivals here in Andalucia, still has a way to go to recover pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, UK arrivals were 2.65 million, ahead of 2022's 2.40 million but only 88 % of 2019 pre-pandemic year of 3.01 million tourists.
2020 to 2022: from pre-pandemic record levels to post-pandemic recovery
In 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, Andalucia received 10.8 million international tourists, which was the highest ever recorded, and greeted with delight by the regional government. This figure was 3.4% up on 2018, and in line with consistent growth from 2010 to 2019.
In 2020, the first year of the Covid pandemic, Andalucia received only 2.7 million international tourists. January and February were up about 3% on 2019, but after mid-March when the Coronavirus pandemic.struck, borders were closed until mid-July, when restrictions and/or tests made it complicated for international tourists to visit.
In 2021 the recovery started - Andalucia received 4.2 million international tourists, about a third of pre-pandemic levels. In the second half of the year, as restrictions eased international tourist numbers increased, with October / November reaching about 75% of 2019 levels (see monthly table, below). However the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus at the end of the year caused a reduction in reservations for the 2022 holiday season, which usually see a boost in January.
The 2021 national tourist arrivals (including Andalucian tourists) increased substantially in 2021, with close to 20 million tourists helping the economy of the tourism, and especially the hotel, sector. Of the 20 million, 77% were national, and about half of these were Andalucian residents travelling within Andalucia, possibly helped by the hotel discount voucher offered by the regional government. This supported the local destinations' economies, but not the Andalucian tourism economy as a whole.
In 2022 Andalucia received 10 million international tourists. This is equivalent to 83% of the 2019 peak, and similar to the 2015/6 figures.
These figures would place Andalucia, if it were a country, about 25th in a world league of foreign tourist arrivals.
Internationally 2022 started slowly, since the Covid wave over New Year delayed summer reservations. January 2022, for example, saw 56% international arrivals compared to 2019 levels, but UK arrivals were only back to 39%.
In the first half of 2022, international tourists were at 77% of 2019 levels. Many reports optimistically predicted that 2022 would be a bumper summer for travel to Spain, and indeed the second half of the year recorded a more impressive 89%.
International Tourists in Andalucia - by year
In the table we observe the increase in international (ie non Spanish) tourist arrivals to Andalucia. A general increase from 2000 to 2007, then the fall to 2010, followed by the rise back to 2019, then the pandemic in 2020/1 and the recovery in 2022 and 2023.
| Year | International Tourists |
|---|---|
|
2000
|
6,991,973
|
|
2001
|
7,591,511
|
|
2002
|
7,686,167
|
|
2003
|
7,908,400
|
|
2004
|
7,943,253
|
|
2005
|
8,351,628
|
|
2006
|
7,975,629
|
|
2007
|
8,429,556
|
|
2008
|
7,975,202
|
|
2009
|
7,465,415
|
|
2010
|
7,437,435
|
|
2011
|
7,884,875
|
|
2012
|
7,577,651
|
|
2013
|
7,871,110
|
| 2014 | 8,501,990 |
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2015
|
9,365,233
|
| 2016 | 10,570,898 |
| 2017 | 11,520,000 |
| 2018 | 11,680,000 |
| 2019 | 12,023,153 |
| 2020 | 2,700,613 |
| 2021 | 4,248,340 |
| 2022 | 10,011,509 |
| 2023 | 12,200,666 |
| 2024 | 13.597,784 |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Movimentos turisticas en frontera. Frontur
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International Tourists to Andalucia - by month
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (% 2022 of 2019) | (% 2023 of 2019) | (% 2024 of 2019) | ||||
| January | 574,761 | 605,491 | 49,789 | 323,896 (56%) | 567,627 (99%) | 666,363 (115%) |
| February | 626,983 | 626,653 | 28,715 | 425,307 (68%) | 612,045 (98%) | 726,034 (115%) |
| March | 842,934 | 298,332 | 51,049 | 609,437 (72%) | 801,619 (95%) | 960,232 (113%) |
| April | 1,131,483 | 0 | 83,006 | 907,596 (80%) | 1,152,846 (102%) | 1,204,444 (106%) |
| May | 1,204,749 | 0 | 166,171 | 1,036,243 (86%) | 1,210,100 (101%) | 1,348,546 (112%) |
| June | 1,243,394 | 13,997 | 296,125 | 1,009,404 (81%) | 1,156,269 (93%) | 1,366,423 (110%) |
| July | 1,256,656 | 359,754 | 555,120 | 1,119,763 (89%) | 1,344,993 (107%) | 1,461,773 (116%) |
| August | 1,403,702 | 363,850 | 699,075 | 1,285,299 (92%) | 1,466,334 (104%) | 1,602,146 (114%) |
| September | 1,375,342 | 179,190 | 687,624 | 1,115,222 (81%) | 1,300,924 (95%) | 1,435,271 (104%) |
| October | 1,191,120 | 143,610 | 813,081 | 1,049,705 (88%) | 1,237,399 (104%) | 1,368,923 (115%) |
| November | 614,169 | 49,175 | 486,298 | 593,559 (97%) | 715,475 (116%) | 777,538 (127%) |
| December | 557,861 | 60.600 | 332,287 | 536,087 (96%) | 624,935 (112%) | 680,492 (122%) |
| Total | 12,023,153 | 10,009,890 (83 %) | 12,190,566 (101 %) | 13,597,784 (113 %) |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Movimentos turisticas en frontera. Frontur
Data published by INE five weeks after end of month.
British Tourists to Andalucia - by month
| Month | British Tourists 2019 |
British Tourists 2020 |
British Tourists 2021 |
British Tourists 2022 |
British Tourists 2023 |
British Tourists 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (% 2022 of 2019) | (% 2023 of 2019) | (% 2024 of 2019) | ||||
| January | 122,322 | 112,897 | 6,287 | 48,037 (39 %) | 93,067 (76 %) | 112,660 (92%) |
| February | 150,208 | 153,590 | 1,507 | 81,634 (54 %) | 113,835 (76 %) | 149,832 (99%) |
| March | 229,738 | 82,073 | 5,513 | 151,808 (66 %) | 207,265 (90 %) | 199,530 (87%) |
| April | 296,588 | 0 | 3,944 | 230,998 (78 %) | 250,113 (84 %) | 256,695 (87%) |
| May | 356,600 | 0 | 14,497 | 288,035 (81 %) | 298,928 (84 %) | 285,486 (80%) |
| June | 312,606 | 0 | 26,532 | 281,405 (90 %) | 258,660 (83 %) | 309,234 (99%) |
| July | 326,841 | 76,069 | 70,386 | 277,508 (85 %) | 292,268 (89 %) | 298,422 (91%) |
| August | 327,039 | 65,904 | 115,835 | 298,742 (91 %) | 301,938 (92 %) | 321,697 (98%) |
| September | 331,482 | 41,809 | 144,216 | 288,683 (87 %) | 288,900 (87 %) | 350,863 (106%) |
| October | 291,640 | 31,883 | 169,647 | 227,972 (78 %) | 270,284 (93 %) | 271,217 (93%) |
| November | 138,247 | 8,959 | 93,061 | 124,700 (90 %) | 133,991 (97 %) | 140,278 (94%) |
| December | 129,537 | 7,676 | 49,790 | 100,224 (77 %) | 104,792 (81%) | 114,433 (88%) |
| Total Year | 3,012,848 | 580,860 | 701,215 | 2,623,711 (87%) | 2,810,347 (93 %) |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Movimentos turisticas en frontera. Frontur data
Data published by INE five weeks after end of month.
Compare tourists by country - Summer 2019 and 2023
If international tourist to Andalucia is just above 2019 level and UK is down, which countries are up? In the table below, which just looks at the summer school holiday months of July and August one can see which countries have increased and which have descreased. Countried with less than about 25.000 per mont are not included in the published Data.
| July and August 2019 | July and August 2023 | Change % | |
| Morocco | 112.874 | 73.464 | -35 |
| Norway | 70.945 | 55.351 | -22 |
| Switzerland | 50.113 | 40.354 | -19 |
| Finland | 35.906 | 29.279 | -18 |
| France | 364.490 | 324.015 | -11 |
| UK | 653.880 | 602.102 | -8 |
| Germany | 183.157 | 172.558 | -6 |
| Belgium | 137.106 | 130.673 | -5 |
| Sweden | 86.527 | 87.618 | 1 |
| Ireland | 137.508 | 149.588 | 9 |
| Denmark | 70.084 | 78.501 | 12 |
| Rest of Europe | 114.932 | 154.803 | 35 |
| Holland | 118.397 | 159.955 | 35 |
| Portugal | 176.333 | 249.812 | 42 |
| Rest of World | 41.241 | 61.439 | 49 |
| USA | 52.668 | 84.251 | 60 |
| Italy | 103.555 | 180.834 | 75 |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Movimentos turisticas en frontera. Frontur data
Tourist visits to towns in Andalucia
Tourist visits to towns in Andalucia are measured by INE from hotel occupation records. They don't reflect when a town receives day trip visits only overnight stays. A tourist staying several nights is counted once however a tourist changing hotel will be counted twice.
| Town | International Tourists | Spanish Resident Tourists | ||||
| 2019 | 2023 | % change | 2019 | 2023 | % change | |
| Almería | 87,161 | 89,863 | 3% | 237,107 | 369,791 | 55% |
| Mojácar | 46,902 | 34,722 | -25% | 194,636 | 169,019 | -13% |
| Níjar | 16,616 | 12,254 | -26% | 66,556 | 66,673 | 0.1% |
| Roquetas de Mar | 133,337 | 105,414 | -21% | 439,087 | 401,877 | -8% |
| Algeciras | 129,688 | 97,687 | -24% | 117,489 | 125,217 | 6% |
| Arcos de la Frontera | 17,754 | 26,912 | 51% | 39,855 | 35,049 | -12% |
| Cádiz | 115,828 | 108,553 | -6% | 148,695 | 178,858 | 20% |
| Jerez de la Frontera | 115,782 | 104,537 | -9% | 199,941 | 215,379 | 7% |
| Puerto de Santa María, El | 39,151 | 32,286 | -17% | 167,615 | 181,561 | 8% |
| Tarifa | 79,172 | 69,290 | -12% | 89,282 | 103,523 | 15% |
| Córdoba | 449,314 | 400,906 | -10% | 521,672 | 522,302 | 0.1% |
| Granada | 1,100,048 | 886,662 | -19% | 901,413 | 855,702 | -5% |
| Cazorla | 3,412 | 2,811 | -17% | 40,923 | 42,077 | 2% |
| Antequera | 49,053 | 38,173 | -22% | 96,701 | 95,492 | -1% |
| Benalmádena | 372,233 | 447,213 | 20% | 237,921 | 168,712 | -29% |
| Estepona | 206,683 | 253,376 | 22% | 113,673 | 139,027 | 22% |
| Fuengirola | 320,786 | 306,361 | -4% | 189,737 | 170,170 | -10% |
| Málaga | 873,932 | 904,259 | 3% | 539,295 | 612,980 | 13% |
| Marbella | 553,379 | 538,147 | -2% | 208,082 | 197,253 | -5% |
| Nerja | 142,738 | 134,494 | -5% | 83,137 | 75,086 | -9% |
| Ronda | 163,478 | 181,098 | 10% | 98,650 | 93,871 | -4% |
| Torremolinos | 630,216 | 742,131 | 17% | 397,859 | 457,781 | 15% |
| Sevilla | 1,630,446 | 1,627,982 | -0.1% | 1,180,906 | 1,398,187 | 18% |
Source: Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica.