The British remained the main international source of tourism to the region during 2024

The Regional Tourism Minister, Marián Cano, has released information from the ‘Profile of International Tourists visiting the Comunidad Valenciana 2024‘, a report prepared by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana using data from the FRONTUR surveys (statistics on tourist movements at the border) and EGATUR (survey of tourist expenditure) from the National Statistics Institute (INE), which confirms that a total of 11,938,668 foreign tourists visited the Valencian region last year.

Of these, 24.7% came from the United Kingdom, “a market that was once again the largest and the main source market for international tourism to the Comunidad Valenciana, followed by the French market with a share of 18.9%,” said Marián Cano. The third main market was the Nordic market with a percentage of 8.7%, followed by the Netherlands with 7.6% and Germany, which reached a share of 6.3% in 2024.

The regional head of tourism also revealed that the average daily expenditure of those who visited our region last year also increased compared to 2023, going from spending 126.8 euros on average per day to 131.4 euros in 2024. She also highlighted that the main reason for the trip “continues to be leisure and holidays, with an average stay of 9.7 days and with trips oriented towards the sun and beach product on 54.9% of occasions”.

Cano explained that “this type of analysis helps us to better guide our promotional strategies and to be more effective when carrying out actions in the different potential markets”, adding that the data is fundamental when making decisions and “being more effective with the resources we allocate to each of them as well as with the products we reinforce”.

Preferences, Accommodation and Spending

Regarding the preferred activities of international tourists, heading to the beaches was the top choice with a share of 81.1%, followed by shopping (66.8%), visiting cities (66.4%), gastronomy (40.3%), entertainment activities (39.6%), cultural visits (32.8%) and visiting natural areas (27.2%). However, there was an increase in interest in sporting activities during 2024, which accounted for 13.1% as well as playing golf, which accounted for 2.5% of the total activities carried out by international tourists visiting the area.

Most international tourists choose to stay in a hotel during their holidays (38.7%), while 18.9% opted for renting a tourist home. 76.8% of them arrive via one of the three airports in the Comunidad Valenciana, whilst 21.9% arrived by road.

The report also showed that the daily expenditure of these international tourists increased significantly when their stay was for work or business, reaching 192 euros per day with an average stay of seven days. International tourists who chose the Comunidad Valenciana for sports also spent more daily, reaching 184.2 euros per day with an average stay of 5.8 days. They were followed by cultural tourists, whose expenditure amounted to 134.8 euros per day with a stay of 8.6 days.

More than half of foreign visitors were men (58.8%), aged between 45 and 64, closely followed by those aged between 25 and 44. Most of them are highly educated and working.

Data by Province and Tourist Spots

By provinces, the British market remained the main one in destinations such as the province of Alicante or the resort of Benidorm, where the British accounted for 74.1% of the demand. However, the French opted mainly for the province of Castellón with a share of 60.5%, and for the province of Valencia, where they represented 27.7% of the total number of foreign visitors.