Almeria hotels three quarters full for Easter

HOTEL occupation rates in Almeria Province were 71.3 per cent over the Easter weekend, official figures show. Over Easter, 742,000 tourists visited Andalucia, a 4.4 per cent rise from last year, according to the Councillor for Tourism, Commerce and Sport, Luciano Alonso.

The Junta de Andalucia has estimated that the visitors to the region spent some €358m, a similar amount to 2010.

The Tourism Follow-up Survey shows that the average stay was 6.1 days, and the average daily expenditure just over €67, 40 per cent of which was spent on eating out, while 28.4 per cent was spent on shopping and 22 per cent on accommodation.

Fifty-nine per cent of the visitors were Spanish, with 38.6 per cent of them coming from other regions in Spain.

Occupancy levels were up to 70.3 per cent, almost 3 per cent better than Easter 2010, and from Thursday to Saturday, this rose to 80 per cent. More than 68 per cent of visitors stayed on the coast.

All provinces, except Jaen, were above 70 per cent occupancy levels from Thursday to Saturday, with Sevilla leading the way at 87 per cent, Huelva 86.4 per cent, Granada 83.6 per cent, Malaga 80.5 per cent, Cordoba 79.1 per cent, Cadiz 74.5 per cent, Almeria and Jaen 69.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, 9 million foreign tourists visited Spain in the first three months of this year, 2.9 per cent more than the same time last year.

Sixty-three per cent stayed in hotels (up by 2.3 per cent) while those staying in holiday homes or with relatives fell by 0.5 per cent.

From January to March 2011, 256,592 more tourists came to Spain, according to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce.

Hotel stays were also up by 4.9 per cent in March, despite the fact that Easter fell in March last year, National Institute of Statistics figures show.

Almost 80 per cent of tourists travelled to Spain by plane, 3.4 per cent more than in 2010.

By Jennifer Leighfield