Good prospects for Chinese tourism in Spain in 2024

According to the latest data from Turespaña, Spain welcomed 382,207 Chinese tourists in 2023, which represents a recovery of 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels, showing an increase in spending per visitor of 20%. Specifically, total expenditure was €1.13 billion and the average spend per person was €2,958, while the average stay was 10.3 nights, also up on 2019. Throughout 2023 progress was gradual and conditioned by the slow recovery of the local tourism industry, connectivity and visas, but by autumn progress became more evident and there were good prospects for the Chinese New Year holiday.

The full recovery of Chinese outbound tourism is intrinsically linked to the overall economic situation in China. Factors such as the weakness of the Chinese currency (yuan), stagnating income growth and youth unemployment have impacted Chinese consumers' demand for foreign travel. However, in addition to the excellent recovery of direct connectivity with Spain, which already exceeds the level of 2019 by 110%, there is the expectation of the recovery of international connectivity by more than 2,500 new international flights, which would have an impact on price reductions, and a 73% recovery in the levels of Chinese travellers on international flights is expected to be achieved by the end of 2024. It should also be noted that Chinese companies have, on the one hand, increased the frequency of existing routes, such as Madrid-Beijing, Beijing-Barcelona, Hong-Kong-Madrid, Shanghai-Madrid, Chonquing-Madrid and, on the other hand, new routes have been created, such as Hangzhou-Madrid, operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, with a frequency of three flights per week, Wenzhou-Madrid, by China Eastern, which opens with two flights per week; and Shenzen-Barcelona, operated by Shenzen Airlines since August and with two flights per week.

Leisure and work

Last year, 65% of Chinese tourists travelled to our country for leisure, while 28% said they came for professional reasons. Most travelled without a package tour (87%) and stayed almost exclusively in hotels (91%). Their main destinations were Catalonia (49%) and the Community of Madrid (30%). The average age of the Chinese tourist visiting Spain was 37.4, i.e. almost seven years younger than the average international tourist (44.1 years old). 95% per cent of Chinese tourists had a higher education, and 53% belonged to the middle class. The main reasons for visiting were shopping (62%) and for cultural and city visits (both 61%).

In total, the number of international tourists visiting Spain in 2023 exceeded 85 million for the first time, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year and 1.9% more than in 2019.