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• Foreign tourism drives a year of stable growth for the sector.

Tourism in Galicia continues to rise, reaching historic numbers of international visitors in 2024. According to data published last week by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), from January to September 2.2 million foreign tourists chose Galicia, which It represents an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, translating into a total of 3.4 million overnight stays, a record for international tourism in the community.

The accumulated balance of the first nine months of the year implies increases of 1.9% in the number of travelers and 0.7% in overnight stays compared to 2023.

Regarding accommodation preference, 69% of tourists opted for the hotel sector, 56% in hotels and 13% in pensions, while the remaining 31% preferred options such as hostels, campsites, tourist apartments and rural accommodations. Within this last group, rural tourism was the one that experienced the greatest growth, with a 1.2% increase in recorded nights.

The economic impact of this positive trend is also notable, since the nominal income of the hotel sector reached approximately 350 million euros so far this year, exceeding by 7.2% the income of the same period in 2023 and also the pre-pandemic levels.

Highlights in September

The month of September also contributed to the success of the tourism sector in Galicia, with 909,161 tourists staying in different types of establishments, a figure that represents 2.8% more than the same month last year. In terms of accommodation preferences, hotels and guesthouses were the most chosen, followed by hostels, campsites, tourist apartments and rural tourism. This last modality registered the greatest increase in nights during September, with an increase of 7.7%.