MADRID, March 23 (Reuters) - The number of tourists visiting Spain fell by 15.9 percent in February compared to the same month a year earlier, the steepest fall since the economic crisis began to hit the country's second-largest industry.
Data from the Tourism Ministry on Monday showed that the number of people visiting from Britain, Spain's biggest market, sank by 23.4 percent from February 2008, as the depreciation of the pound combined with the effects of recession.
A total of 2.8 million tourists came to Spain in February, which is one of the quieter months of the year. The number of tourist arrivals has now fallen every month since June 2008, and February's decline was worse than the 13.8 percent decline recorded in December.
Tourism provides more than 10 percent of Spain's gross domestic product, and the impact of the world economic crisis has strengthened as unemployment rises in key markets.
Hotel stay data from the National Statistics Institute showed almost exactly the same trend in February, with the number of paid hotel nights falling by 15.5 percent following the 12 percent fall in January. The fall came despite a 5.1 percent fall in the average cost of a hotel room compared to February 2008, the institute said.
Hotel chains such as NH
Spain is the world's second-largest tourist destination after France in terms of arrivals. Tourism is the country's second-most important activity after construction, which has been hit by the collapse of a property boom. (Reporting by Robert Hetz, Manuel Maria Ruiz and Jason Webb; Editing by Toby Chopra)