As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Spanish tourism businesses registered annual revenue losses of nearly 70 percent in 2020, according to a survey. For 2021, the responding companies operating in this sector saw a revenue decline of around 47 percent in comparison to 2019. In both years, travel agencies were estimated to be the most affected.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the travel and tourism sector worldwide, as governments around the globe closed their borders and imposed mobility restrictions to dampen the spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In Spain, a year into this global crisis meant a reduction of more than 110 billion euros in the contribution of tourism to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Additionally, Spain counted over 800 thousand jobs losses in this sector between April 2020 and March 2021.

In the last quarter of 2022, both the tourism and the total gross domestic product (GDP) in Spain had almost fully recovered from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At that time, their values were only 1.5 and 0.3 below the values recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019.

In the third quarter of 2022 – the most active period for tourism in Spain – residents of the European country spent nearly 14.9 billion euros on domestic trips. This figure represents the highest figure since 2018.

The air passenger traffic in Spain experienced an almost complete recovery in 2022, after the great impact recorded in the previous two years due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. December 2022 was the month that registered the most similar air passenger traffic to the pre-pandemic numbers, at 17.9 million travelers.

The monthly employment of travel agencies in Spain in 2022 registered an improvement from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, though it remained below 2019 levels. In July 2022, there were more than 61 thousand people employed in the Spanish tourism sector, around 12 percent below July 2019.

In 2022, the number of establishments of Spanish travel agency franchises located outside Spain amounted to 104, losing one unit versus the previous two years. In comparison to 2018, this figure represents a decline of around 45 percent.

In 2022, the number of employees in the accommodation industry in Spain surpassed the monthly figures recorded in 2019. This show a complete recovery from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In July 2022, the number of people employed in the Spanish tourism sector peaked at 438 thousand.

This statistic shows the decrease in the number of workers affiliated to Social Security in the activities of the tourist sector due to the coronavirus in Spain in March 2020. Food and beverage services registered the greatest decrease in affiliation relative to the same month of 2019 within the tourism sector in Spain.

Throughout 2022, the cruise tourism volume in Spain exhibited a strong recovery from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the monthly number of passengers remained below 2019 data for the most part. In October, which was the month with the highest figures for both years, there were more than 1.2 million cruise travelers handled in Spanish ports.

In April 2021, the revenue index of the food service industry in Spain recorded a growth of more than 880 percent in relation to the same month of the previous year. This was the highest change in this Spanish industry throughout the entire coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In 2022, the number of overnight stays in Spanish accommodation establishments recovered almost entirely from the hit of the COVID-19 outbreak. In the two most touristic months of the year – July and August – the number was very close to the 43 and 47 million nights registered in the same period of 2019.

In 2022, the revenue index of the Spanish hotel industry went back to levels of variation similar to those recorded before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In November and December of that year, this industry even registered a slight year-over-year decline.

In the last four months of 2022, the number of intercity railway passengers in Spain surpassed the figures recorded in 2019, which shows a complete recovery from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The month with the highest figure was December 2022, totaling more than 6.35 million passengers.

In early-2021, two out of ten travel agencies who participated in a survey claimed to have stayed closed since March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In contrast, ten percent of agencies surveyed in the European country stated to have reopened all their offices as of March 2021.

In 2020, overnight stays in Spain by tourists from abroad fell by 75.1% compared to 2019. In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands the drop was even greater. In the Balearic archipelago, the most affected region, the decrease in overnight stays with respect to the previous year exceeded 85%.

This statistic shows the main measures taken by companies in the tourism and hospitality sectors during the coronavirus crisis in Spain in 2020. Most companies of this type decided to close their doors temporarily at 38 percent. Many also put their workers on furlough, with 27 percent of all hospitality and tourism companies.

This statistic shows the main investments made by companies in the tourism and hospitality sectors due to the coronavirus crisis in Spain in 2020. Some 27 percent of companies involved in these industries bought sanitary material during the coronavirus crisis in Spain.

In 2022, the balance of payments of the Spanish tourism sector recovered entirely from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, after having been strongly impacted in the previous two years. For instance, the figure for the last quarter of 2022 reached nearly 10 billion euros, which over two billions higher than in the same period of 2018 and 2019.

The tourism sector GDP share in Spain was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 3.7 percentage points. The share is estimated to amount to 14.83 percent in 2028. While the share was forecast to increase significant in the next years, the increase will slow down in the future.Depited is the economic contribution of the tourism sector in relation to the gross domestic product of the country or region at hand.The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).