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Tourist spending in the Basque Country in 2008 amounted to 3,596 million euros, which meant a 5.3% contribution to the GDP, according to Eustat data.

Participation by the tourism sector fell slightly over the period under analysis, down from 5.5% of the GDP in 2005 to 5.3% in 2008. This evolution was initially stable, followed by a slight downturn in 2007 and 2008, with the contribution to GDP falling by a tenth in each year.

In 2008, over half of tourist spending (54.0%) was generated by tourists and day-trippers residing in the Basque Country and whose tourist activities took place within the Autonomous Community, together with the spending originating from outbound tourism, that is to say, the money spent (mainly travel agents and transport) in the Basque Country by the residents when they travel outside it for tourist reasons. The remaining 46% was generated by visitors from outside the Basque Country, that is, tourists and day-trippers who visit from other Autonomous Communities of Spain or other countries.

The importance of day trips (defined as the activity outside the everyday environment without the need for an overnight stay) in the Basque Country is noteworthy. It accounted for nearly 80% of the visits received.

Outbound tourism

Outbound tourism is particularly important for the Basque Country (trips and day-trips outside the place of residence) compared to inbound tourism (trips and day-trips of non-residents within the economic territory), which generated a deficit of 3,083 million euros (4.5% of the GDP) in 2008. Between 2005 and 2008, this deficit steadily increased. The strong performance of the Basque economy up to 2007, together with the opening up of foreign markets and economic solvency meant that the Basque Country was characterised to a large extent by the condition of outbound more than incoming tourism, hence the negative balance.

The performances of inbound and outbound tourism led to a 17.1% downturn in tourism between 2005 and 2008, a figure that represented 4.5% of the GDP.

Provincial characteristics of the tourism

The tourism of the Basque Country has traditionally been based around the capital of Gipuzkoa and its coastal strip, but that is gradually changing. Specifically, the tourism sector of the Basque Countyr has undergone a diversification since 2005 and Bilbao is now the most important tourist destination in absolute terms, even though not in relation to its GDP.

The province of Gipuzkoa accumulated the largest part of total tourist spending in the Basque Country, with 43.4% of the total in 2005 and maintained the highest participation of tourist spending in the provincial GDP, 7.3%. However, the participation percentages with respect to its GDP fell over successive years down to 6.8% in 2008.

Bizkaia, which represented 41.2% of the tourist spending of the Basque Country in 2005, rose to 43.6% in 2008, even though its participation percentage with respect to GDP remained at 4.5%.

Álava registered more moderate growth rates in tourist spending, which meant that its tourist expenditure fell from representing 15.4% in 2005 to 13.8% in 2008. In percentage terms, it is the province with the lowest relative importance of tourism with respect to its GDP (4.4% in 2008).