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• In the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, 1 in 4 companies are dedicated to tourism
• The hospitality sector accounts for 40% of tourism-related businesses and 60% of the tourism workforce
• 50% of tourism companies have between 1 and 9 employees, accounting for more than 96% alongside businesses without employees

Tourism's contribution to the Spanish economy exceeded 13% of GDP in 2024, following four years of recovery that have boosted its relevance in the economy by about 1% compared to 2019. These projections by Exceltur point to tourism now accounting for 13.4% of Spain's GDP. The latest official data of the Satellite Tourism Account, published by the INE, marked the contribution of tourism to the Spanish economy at 12.3% in 2023, three-tenths below the pre-pandemic figure.

How much does tourism contribute to business activity and employment?

In 2024, 20.5%¹ of Spanish companies were engaged in tourism-related activities, contributing 13%² of the total employment in the Spanish economy at the end of the year. These figures are the result of a 3% increase in the number of tourism companies (already above 660,000) and a 9% increase in the number of employees (around 3 million workers).

Increase in the number of tourism-related companies

Tourism companies accounted for 20.5% of all companies in Spain in 2024. That is 0.5% more than in 2023. This increase is widespread throughout the country. Throughout the year, the number of tourism-related companies grew faster than other sectors, particularly in Andalusia, Cantabria, Castile and León, Catalonia, Galicia and La Rioja. The Balearic Islands are the only region where the share of tourism-related companies in the economy did not grow in 2024. However, it remains the autonomous community with the highest concentration of tourism-related companies.

Where and how can data from tourism companies in Spain be analysed?

Dataestur has an analytical dashboard for the statistical analysis of the Central Business Directory. Data is collected from companies and local tourism-related units in autonomous communities and provinces. In addition, it is possible to delve deeper into the distribution of these companies according to their activity or the number of employees.

Segittur's Tourism Intelligence System also provides a visualisation of municipal data to tourist destination managers.

How are tourism companies and their employment distributed among the autonomous communities?

There is a high concentration of tourism company activity in a few regions. In total, just six autonomous communities account for more than 70% of tourism-related companies. The figure is higher for companies associated with transport and travel agencies. In terms of employment, the concentration is even higher, with just five autonomous communities accounting for 70% of the tourism workforce.

It is important to note that tourism activity in Spain is highly concentrated. For example, 90%³ of international tourist arrivals to Spain occur in just 6 autonomous communities: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Andalusia, the region of Valencia and the region of Madrid. In domestic tourism, a similar situation occurs, with 70%⁴ of tourists traveling to six regions: Andalusia, Catalonia, the region of Madrid, the regionof Valencia, Castile and Leon and Castile-La Mancha.

How are tourism companies and their employment distributed by activity?

Hospitality is the main tourism activity, accounting for 40% of tourism-related businesses and 60% of tourism employment.

In 2024, tourism companies increased by around 3%. The sectors that grew the most were travel agencies and other tourism-related activities (around 6%). Meanwhile, hospitality businesses increased by only 1%.

The number of people employed in tourism activities at the end of 2024 was 9% higher than at the end of 2023. The activities where the number of people employed increased the most were accommodation and transport (around 13% and 11% respectively)

50 % of tourism companies have between 1 and 9 employees

The weight of small businesses in the tourism sector is overwhelming, with just over half of them in Spain having between 1 and 9 employees. In addition, along with businesses without employees, they account for more than 96% of companies related to tourism activities.

In 2024, Spain had approximately 23 tourism-related businesses for every 10,000 tourists. They are well above the average in Asturias, the region of Madrid and the region of Murcia. The lowest figures are found in Castile and Leon and Castile-La Mancha.

Among the major tourist destinations, only the Balearic Islands has a ratio of businesses per tourist significantly below the average, despite being one of the autonomous communities where tourism-related businesses have the greatest presence in the economy.

The calculation combines data from the statistical exploitation of the Central Business Directory by the INE and domestic tourism (both inbound and internal) from INE's experimental tourism statistics measured using mobile phone data.

Hospitality, the main economic activity of tourism

The latest official data from the Central Business Directory shows that there were over 264,000 hospitality businesses in Spain in 2024. This accounts for 40% of tourism-related companies and, by the end of the year, generated 60% of tourism employment.

The hospitality industry comprises more than half of tourism companies in regions such as the Basque Country, Castile and León and Extremadura. As with the rest of the tourism sector, most hospitality businesses are also concentrated in just four regions (Andalusia, Catalonia, the region of Valencia and the region of Madrid account for 56% of the national total).

What are companies and employment in the hospitality industry like according to the data?

The vast majority of hospitality businesses have employees⁵: 77% compared to 51% for tourism activity in general. Companies with between 1 and 9 employees stand out (71%). By the end of 2024, the hospitality sector had more than 325,000 self-employed workers⁶, , accounting for around 21% of its total workforce.

Below are some characteristics of these hospitality businesses according to the latest official data from the Social Security in its Annual Labour Survey (published in December 2024 with data from 2023).

The hospitality industry stands out for female employment, with the majority of its workers (54.2%) being women. The figure is almost 13% higher than the average for Spanish companies. However, fixed-term contracts for women are 1.5% more common than for men, accounting for 8.3% of their total contracts.

Companies in the sector are the ones that convert the most part-time contracts into full-time contracts, and their fixed-term contracts make up 7.6%, nearly 1% less than in the economy as a whole. In fact, nearly 90% of hospitality businesses have less than 20% of their staff on temporary contracts.

Despite these figures, hospitality had the highest proportion of companies that implemented layoffs in 2023, (33.3% did so, which is five percentage points higher than the overall economy). However, the forecast for the following year was for the number of workers to remain stable (76%) or increase (18%).

More than half of hospitality companies reported having difficulty filling a job position. Personal contacts stand out as the main channel for searching for workers (well above average) and are followed at a distance by searches on private employment websites and social networks.

Reaction to changes in demand

The dominant response to an increase in demand was the hiring of permanent staff (78%, 2% above the average). Temporary contracts were used in only 10% of cases, and in 7% of cases, working hours were increased.

In response to a reduction in demand, the hospitality industry stands out above the national average by choosing to reduce labour costs. 66% of companies did so. This is mainly done by reducing the number of hours worked and salaries (34% of companies). However, the most common response was the reduction of non-labor costs, a strategy applied by around 76% of companies, mirroring the general trend in the economy.

Poor data on training, climate awareness and remote working

Hospitality companies stand out as those that provide the least training to their employees. A total of 58% do so, in comparison to 73% of all companies. Even among those companies that have detected the need for training for their workers, those in the hospitality industry stand out as those that have provided the least training (29% of them, compared to 12% of the total Spanish economy). It stands out as the least active economic activity, with just over 10% involvement in all types of training. Only in the case of on-the-job training using usual work methods does it come closer to the figures of other sectors (although it still lags more than 8% below).

On the contrary, training in workplace safety, health and hygiene is provided in 70% of hospitality companies

66% of hospitality businesses have modified their infrastructures to reduce the impact of climate change. However, only one in five companies carried out awareness-raising campaigns on climate change mitigation for employees (5% less than the average).

The nature of its activity means that it also has the lowest proportion of companies that use remote working (only 3% compared to almost 15% of all companies). Furthermore, the few that do use it do so for less than a quarter of their workforce.

FOOTNOTES
1-2024 data from the statistical analysis of the Central Business Directory carried out by the INE
2, 5 and 6 -Data from the fourth quarter of 2024 of the Labour Force Survey
3 and 4 – 2024 data from INE's experimental statistics on measuring tourism using mobile phone usage