for france ( 2. 3 % ), italy ( 2. 5 % ) and germany ( 1. 1 % ), albeit smaller than those for portugal ( 8. 5 % ) and greece ( 9. 9 % ). 2022 figures on overnight stays. according to the tourism gdp estimated by exceltur. similarly, tourism flows appear to have returned to their 2019 levels, in terms of both passenger arrivals and overnight stays. in particular, overnight stays by spanish travellers in summer 2023 were 1. 1 % up on their pre - pandemic levels, 5 while overnight stays in spain by international travellers exceeded such levels by almost 9 pp in november 2023. the strong figures posted by spanish destinations came amid a sharp rise in tourism flows towards the country's main mediterranean competitors, such as turkey or greece, which are more competitive on price. however, overnight hotel stays by non - residents recovered more strongly in spain than in either the euro area as a whole or other european countries. 6 by country of origin, the momentum was primarily driven by tourists from europe, 7 with the exception of the nordic countries ( affected, among other reasons, by the financial difficulties of some companies in the airline industry ) and the german market, in line with the country ’ s weaker economic performance last year. also striking was the upturn in tourists arriving from the united states and the rest of the americas ( boosted last year by the weakening of the euro against the dollar ), though it appears that tourism from asia8 has yet to recover its pre - pandemic levels. by region, andalusia, catalonia and valencia were the preferred destinations of spanish residents in 2023, whereas the islands were the destination of choice for non - residents. compared with their pre - pandemic levels, the canary islands, the balearic islands and the regions along the cantabrian coast saw the biggest increases in overnight stays, whereas navarre, aragon and madrid are some way behind. meanwhile, tourism expenditure has risen sharply. in particular, the total nominal expenditure of international tourists between january and november 2023 stood 16. 9 % above its pre - pandemic levels, while average daily tourism expenditure was up 14. 2 % and the average stay of international tourists was 1. 4 % longer. while higher prices made a significant contribution to this increase, spending in real terms by foreign tourists without transport and with a package tour rose by 6. 8 % with respect to the same period of 2019, while

. economic bulletin - banco de espana, 2023 / q1, article 08. https : / / doi. org / 10. 53479 / 29461 less seasonal than sun and sand tourism. likewise, promoting inland regions would lead to more balanced tourist inflows, both spatially and seasonally. tourism ’ s long - term growth capacity would also benefit from investments aimed at regenerating saturated and environmentally degraded tourist areas, at adapting tourist destinations to climate change and at improving transport infrastructures, especially longdistance airline connections and, domestically, connectivity between different means of transport. lastly, the programmes financed through the next generation eu ( ngeu ) funds are an opportunity to make progress in these goals. in recent years the pace at which tenders have been awarded under the recovery and resilience facility of the ngeu programme has been slower than initially envisaged. nonetheless, over the first ten months of 2023 the volume awarded increased by around 40 % compared with the same period in 2022. it is essential for the roll - out of the ngeu programme to gain traction in 2024 and 2025, alongside the structural reforms mentioned earlier. i would like to conclude by highlighting that, ultimately, tourism ’ s competitiveness depends on firms ’ and workers ’ capacity to provide quality services and flexibly adapt to changes in demand patterns. to this end, the general economic policy framework must foster legal certainty, an efficient operation of the markets and business activity.