Barcelona July 23, 2015

More than 27 million tourists visited in 2014 the Spanish cities of Barcelona, Madrid, the coastal areas of Mallorca and Calpe (Alicante) and cultural destinations of San Sebastian and Granada, six areas that concentrate almost 50% of tourism in Spain. Of these 27 million tourist,

3.7 million chose to stay in holiday rentals, a form of accommodation that is becoming more popular among tourists visiting Spain, according to the study “Impact of holiday rentals on the Spanish economy”, carried out by ESADE Business School, in collaboration with Salvetti & Llombart and commissioned by the Spanish Federation of Housing and Tourist Apartments (Fevitur).

The research reflects the current situation in the holiday rentals industry and assesses its impact on the Spanish tourist industry and on the finances of families who benefit directly or indirectly from this kind of accommodation. In the view of Gerard Costa, professor of Marketing Management Department at ESADE Business School in Barcelona and author of the study, “we were able to verify for the first time in Spain that the holiday rentals have been the vanguard of a new form of tourism that is becoming a great global trend: foreign families seeking a convenient and comfortable house, consuming in local commerce, who value the deal with the owner as well as the fact that the money goes to an individual rather than a corporate chain, and recommend the experience”. According to data from the official National Statistics Institute (INE), tourists who opted for a holiday rental property in Spain – not only in the six areas where it concentrates the study - increased by 17.1% in 2014, exceeding 7.4 million users, a figure that indicates that this industry contributed more than €5.400 million to the Spanish economy.

About 79% of the 3.7 million people who visited the six cities or areas of Spain aforementioned were foreign tourists. They chose to stay in vacation homes for three reasons: its good location (96%), be homely (91%) and to have a reasonably priced (88%). Most foreign tourists who chose the holiday homes have an average age of 46.8 years (83% are between 35 and over 54 years) and they travel in family (83%). The average number of days the tourists have spent in these accommodations was 7.4 nights (at least 3 nights), and 9 in 10 said that the holiday homes are usual accommodation for their stays in Spain.
The 84% of them prefer accommodation with a kitchen or an access to a kitchen, 67% like to feel at home when they travel and 62% think the kind of accommodation is very important when choosing a destination.

The impact on the Spanish economy

The impact of this type of tourism contributed almost €2.7 billion to the Spanish economy in 2014. As reflected in the study, the average expenditure was €726 per tourist, of which €249 was spent in accommodation and €477 in activities, transportation or meals. This new profile of tourism has a direct impact on business around the area where the holiday rental is located.

So then, convenience stores, markets, local services and other local businesses received 32% of the expenditure per tourist.
Holiday rentals make a significant contribution to Spanish family finances. As noted in the report, the owners have a very specific profile: smallholders who only have a housing for this kind of use and which is an important source of supplementary income for the family finances. Thus, for 92% of the owners, renting means a help to the family economy; to 65% it is a good option for an extra income; and 58% helps cover the cost of the property.
The holiday rentals have a direct impact on job creation too: 46% of the owners employ any person for the housekeeping and 47% offer a permanent cleaning service. Moreover, 3 out of 4 owners renovated the house after renting and 85% buy special furniture to rent it. In addition, 95% of owners confirm that the holiday rentals boost their city's economy.
Despite the growth of this holiday option in Spain, 73% of owners believe that the law does not make renting out the property as a holiday rental an easy option, and to 64% the law can deter people from staying in a holiday rental. Even so, in 51% of cases the property is registered as a holiday property, 68% of the owners always sign a rental agreement with guests and 80% of them inform guests of the rules and regulation for the property or the building housing the property.

According to Pablo Zubicaray, president of Fevitur, “both policymakers and the hotel industry will understand that holiday rentals industry is here to stay. It is true that we have to create rules that can be met, and we have to pay taxes too, but holiday rentals are already part of the tourist accommodation map in Spain”. Websites for holiday rental are the main form of monitoring and management the properties: 87% of tourists chose and managed rental housing over the Internet and 13% did so through the social media. Of total rental operations, 98% booked online, primarily through rental websites specialists.

Press contact: Marta Sardà, prensa@fevitur.com, Mobile +34 607 213 484