Foreign tourists spending in Spain rises by 12.9 pct in first 11 month of 2017

MADRID, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The amount of money spent by foreign tourists in Spain rose by 12.9 percent in the first 11 months of 2017 when compared with the same period of 2016, according to Spain's Statistical Office (INE) published on Wednesday.

The amount spent from January to November reached 82.2 billion euros (98.8 billion U.S. dollars) compared with the 77.6 billion euros they spent in the whole year of 2016.

Average spending per tourist stood at 1,058 euros from January to November, which meant a 3.5 percent increase when compared with the same period a year earlier, while the average daily spending stood at 138 euros, 5.4 percent more than in the same period of 2016.

Britons spent 16.6 billion euros in the first 11 months of 2017, representing 20.2 percent of the total, followed by German and French citizens whose spending which stood at 11.6 billion euros and 6.7 billion euros respectively during the period, accounted for 14.2 percent and 8.1 percent respectively.

Spain is one of the main tourist destinations in the world. The first half of 2017 saw a 12 percent jump, with more than 36.4 million tourists arriving in Spain, according to media reports. (1 euro=1.2 U.S. dollars) Enditem