Mar de Santiago, Vilanova de Arousa, Catoira, Valga, and Pontecesures, is gaining momentum as a landmark geo-destination, both nationally and internationally. According to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) regarding the monitoring of national and inbound tourism based on the position of mobile phones, the number of visitors in the municipalities of Vilanova de Arousa, Catoira, Valga, and Pontecesures has increased by almost 22% in the last three years.
“Although this is an experimental statistic, it does provide us with significant data on the increase in the influx of visitors to our geo-destination. These results are a reward for the intense promotional work that the four Town Councils carry out jointly to promote the uniqueness and importance of this territory,” declared Mar de Santiago.
According to INE data, the four municipalities went from a total of 16,811 national visitors in 2021 to 20,466 in the first ten months of this year (the statistics only include data up to the month of October). This represents an increase of 21.75% in the last three years, which coincides with the various promotional initiatives organised by the geo-destination.
As the table shows, the summer months are particularly significant for the territory, as June and September are when the highest number of visits are recorded, and more specifically between July and August.
It should be noted that these months featured initiatives such as the Quetzal Route expedition or different events such as Catoria’s Viking Festival, the Mussel and Cockle Festival of Vilanova, or the Eel and Local Eau-de-vie País in Valga. Helping to overcome the seasonal nature of this tourism is the increases in visits between the months of March and April, coinciding with Easter and also with the Pontecesures Lamprey Festival, a pole of attraction for thousands of visitors.
Overall, the average number of monthly visitors to the destination between January and October this year is about 5,000 people. Broken down according to municipality, Vilanova de Arousa is the one with the highest average number of visits per month, going from 5,962 in 2021 to 7,860 in the first 10 months of this year, since the INE statistics only have data up to November 2023. In the case of Catoira, the average monthly number of visitors is 3,037 people, while in Valga the figure rises to 5,812. Finally, Pontecesures has received a total of 3,149 national visitors per month so far this year.
