The spending that tourists have made via POS - bank cards - in Salou during the months considered low season has grown by 26% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
This was stated by CaixaBank's Tourism business manager, Albert Pascual, who stressed that April, May, September, October and November are the months in which spending has grown the most. A fact that, according to Pascual, shows the deseasonalization of the municipality.
Mayor Pere Granados celebrated that there has been an increase in visitors during all months of the year. During 2023, the number of tourists has increased by 5.7% and tourism spending already represents 55% of the total recorded in the municipality.
More than half of the spending recorded in Salou comes from tourism. A "very important" sector for this coastal municipality that has been working on its deseasonalization for years. "We are already reaping the fruits," celebrated Granados, who stated that the council continues to work and study new actions, so that the municipality continues to be a destination "alive all year round."
Of the 55% of tourist spending in 2023, 17% corresponds to national tourism and 38% to international tourism. As for the first block, Barcelona (30%), Navarra (7%), Madrid (7%) and Lleida (6%) continue to be the main markets. According to CaixaBank's Tourism business manager, Albert Pascual, he highlighted that the Spanish capital "is the one that is increasing the most compared to the pre-pandemic season."
In terms of international tourism, France remains in the lead with 27%, despite having decreased compared to data prior to 2019. Ireland has gone from being the fifth country with the highest spending in Salou in 2019 to becoming the the second market in 2023, with 23%. They are followed by the United Kingdom (21%), the Netherlands (7%), Belgium (4%) and Germany (35), which is, according to Pascual, the country that is growing the most.
According to the data provided by the bank, accommodation is what both national and international tourists have spent the most money on, but restaurants are the sector that has grown the most compared to 2022. In general, tourist spending on the Coast Central Dorada (Vila-seca, Salou and Cambrils) has been 47% and 20% in the Tarragona district as a whole.
Regarding occupancy data, Salou registered 5.7% more tourists in 2023 than in 2022, reaching 2,187,368 visitors and 7,802,029 overnight stays.
Pascual has assured that, facing 2024, a "more moderate" growth is expected, which could be around 2% of tourism GDP.
"We are entering a much more normalized phase," said Pascual, who pointed out that this "does not mean entering a phase of stagnation, but rather a more normalized growth that moves between 2% and 3%."
He highlighted that "interest in traveling to Spain as a whole continues" and that it is also growing among markets that did not do so until now, such as Japan or the United States.
