Increase In Overnight Hotel Stays And Daily Spending In Malaga Province Shows That Tourism Is Back On Track

THE province of Malaga saw an increase in the number of overnight hotel stays registered during the month of August.

According to data published by the Hotel Tourism Situation Survey of the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Friday, September 22, these stays rose by 2.36 per cent compared to 2019, the last summer before the pandemic.

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Specifically, a total of 2,782,987 overnight hotel stays were registered in August. This figure represents an increase of 110,167 compared to the same period last year, a rise of 3.96 per cent. A rise in the number of visitors was also noted, totalling 719,415, compared to 665,325 in 2019.

In terms of visitors to Andalucia as a whole, just over 2.2 million were recorded, with Malaga topping this list. Cadiz followed with 399,049, and Granada with 255,216.

Overnight stays in Andalucia almost hit 7.5 million, with Malaga again leading the way, ahead of Cadiz, which exceeded 1.3 million, and Huelva, with over 750,000.

International visitors accounted for the most visitors

International travellers represented the largest number of visitors to Malaga, totalling 1,847,172 stays. Meanwhile, the number of Spanish nationals travelling to the province and staying for at least one night was significantly lower, standing at 935,815.

A similar pattern was shown in the figures for the Costa del Sol. More than 2,660,085 overnight stays were accumulated, including 1,799,005 foreigners and 861,080 nationals.

Torremolinos was the most popular destination

In terms of the most popular tourist destinations in the province, Torremolinos headed the field with a total of 730,595, represented by 477,724 foreigners and 252,871 Spaniards.

The town of Benalmádena was in second place with 434,431. This figure included 330,945 foreigners and 103,486 Spaniards. Málaga city had the third-highest total, with 336,742, where the data recorded 218,301 foreigners and 118,441 Spaniards.

The current economic situation is clearly having a decisive impact on the average length of stay that tourists ultimately decided to plan. While last year’s figure was an average of 4.02 nights, in August 2023 it fell to 3.87 nights per traveller.

Estepona and Marbella produced the best ADR and RevPAR

This drop in the average number of nights spent was however accompanied by a rise in the average daily turnover (ADR) of hotel establishments.

The ADR rose from €172.59 to €180.55, an increase of 4.61 per cent. Meanwhile, the average daily revenue per available room (RevPAR) – which is calculated by the occupancy recorded – went from €147.71 to €155.54, representing an increase of  5.3 per cent in the same time frame.

Following this same line, the municipalities with the best ADR figures were Estepona and Marbella, although showing very little difference between them, with €302.87 and €301.66, respectively. In comparison, last year, they registered €139.57 and €289.97.

Similarly, the same two municipalities returned the best RevPAR, with Estepona showing €254.84 and Marbella with €244.54. Compared to €249.25 and €237.08 in 2022, these figures have also risen.

Likewise, hotel occupancy in August reached 79.35 per cent, which is 0.49 percentage points higher than the same month in 2022. Weekend occupancy by beds stood at 81.2 per cent and by room occupancy, the figure reached 86 per cent.