Alex Trelinski
COSTA Blanca hotels had their busiest October this century helped by increased numbers of foreign tourists and more businesses staying open in the low season.
Figures from the National Institute of Statistics(INE) showed nearly 1.68 million overnight stays in the region last month.
The record figure was only surpassed in 1999 when hotel statistics started being measured in their current form by the INE.
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The overnight stay total beats the previous best for this century, recorded in 2018.
A total of 416,243 travellers stayed at Alicante province hotels last month- nearly 11,000 more than in October 2023.
Foreign visitors accounted for 223,334 bookings, reaching more than 1.05 million nights out of the 1.68 million total.
One factor behind the rise is that almost 60 more hotels stayed open last month compared to 2023 with 3,000 extra beds on offer.
The occupancy rate rose by 3% to 65.3% compared to 2023- increasing to 72% at the weekend.
The international market is compensating for annual October falls in domestic stays which came in at 186,900 last month.
Three years ago, the total was over 200,000 and overnight stay numbers are also falling for ‘home’ visitors.
Alicante province came sixth in Spain for the number of hotel guests and seventh in the total for overnight stays which averaged around four days.
