In the absence of knowing the data for the month of August and verifying whether the statistics reflect with figures the good expectations of rural tourism entrepreneurs for this month that ends today, with a bridge that has “brushed” full in many provinces, everything seems to indicate that Castilla y León could register a historical record of visitors in the first two months of the summer. This happened at least in July, after a “weak” start to the summer, according to the terms of the sector itself. Last month, the Community consolidated itself as the preferred destination for travelers who opt for this type of tourism, moving the Balearic Islands for the second consecutive monthand not only that, but with the 92,274 visitors who arrived in Castilla y León, according to the report published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), it records a new historical record, after the data obtained in 2022, when They reached 87,842 travelers, 5 percent less than on this occasion. It was the first time that those reached before the start of the pandemic, in 2020, were exceeded.
Where the 2022 figure was not exceeded was in the number of overnight stays. A total of 228,301 nights were recorded in July.almost 3 percent more than the previous year, but the 231,211 targeted 24 months ago have still not been reached. However, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has appreciated the “very good data” provided by the INE on rural tourism, unlike what has happened in Spain as a whole, where there has been a decrease in travelers of 2.26 percent and 2.10 in the case of overnight stays. Councilor Gonzalo Santonja himself highlighted this, during his visit to the Confloenta site, between the Segovian towns of Duratón and Sepúlveda, where he stressed that “the 92,000 travelers” who arrived in Castilla y León, 6.75 more than the previous year, is not only “specific information”, but “we know that sustained growth is occurring”.
And the number of travelers registered last month was 26.7 percent higher than that registered in June (72,817) and also 30 percent higher than that achieved in March, which this year included Holy Week. In the first seven months of 2024, the autonomy received 438,712 visitors. “So far this year, we have registered a cumulative growth of 1.39% in travelers and 2.91 in overnight stays, which places Castilla y León as a leader in this market segment, which is worth highlighting due to the incidence of rural tourism during these summer months. has in communities with sea and beach”, highlights the Department of the sector. They also note that Between January and July, the Community captured 17.28% of the passenger market share in rural tourism throughout Spain and 14.85% of the overnight stays spent in their accommodation. According to the report provided by the INE, the autonomy had at the end of last month a total of 3,556 establishments that offered just over 33,100 places and employed 5,385. people. The Community remains poor in terms of average length of stay: 2.47 days compared to the 3.09 recorded in the whole of Spain.
The increase in the number of travellers – almost double that recorded ten years ago – This has been particularly noticeable in provinces like Soria (24.6% more than a year ago, with 8,668 “cake” travelers); León (18.4% more) and Burgos (almost 11% more). On the other hand, Segovia was the province with the biggest drop in visitors, 7.2 percent.
The occupancy survey in non-hotel tourist accommodation also reflects the data recorded in apartments, campsites and hostels, where Castilla y León has recorded more modest figures than in the rural tourism sector compared to the average. Even so, July ended with 36,071 visitors in tourist residences and 38,657 in hostels and just over 76,000 in campsites. Data that lead the regional government to emphasize that the “structural growth” that tourism in general is experiencing in Castile and León “is no longer a temporary problem.” “In July, in the group of accommodations where you can spend the night – not only those located in rural areas – the growth in the number of travelers was 4.83 percent compared to 2023, and overnight stays in the same period increased by 2.97 percent,” they emphasize to ABC from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Likewise, they highlight the increase in employment associated with the sector, since according to provisional data from Turespaña, the number of Social Security members increased by 1.63% to reach 80,300 in July“which represents a historic record” for this month.
