Is winter worth it for tour operators?

Short answer: In Spain’s main city destinations, winter is no longer a dead season. GetYourGuide’s first economic study says the winter share of bookings rose from 10% in 2022 to almost 17% in 2025 (GetYourGuide press, Oct 28, 2026). That’s Spain only. For your own city, the better question is whether the competitors on your first page stay listed and what they charge in winter, which you can watch week by week.

What did GetYourGuide’s Spain study find?

GetYourGuide presented the study in Barcelona on October 28, 2026. The headline numbers:

• Winter share: bookings in winter rose from 10% (2022) to almost 17% (2025) in Spain’s main urban destinations.
• Economic impact: €7,480M direct demand in 2025 and €12,290M total contribution (a 1.64 multiplier).
• Traveller profile: international GYG customers in Spain spend €498.6 a day on average and stay 7.77 nights.
• Spread: GYG has experiences in 101 Spanish municipalities facing depopulation.

The study looks in depth at Barcelona, Seville, Madrid, Granada, the Balearics and the Canaries. It was supervised by Guido Guerzoni (Bocconi) and Jordi Tresserras (University of Barcelona). These are GetYourGuide’s own figures from its own platform. The press release doesn’t define the winter months or which cities count as “main urban destinations”; the full PDF may.

What we can’t say: that the same is true in Italy, Portugal or anywhere else. The study doesn’t cover them, and we won’t extrapolate.

Why does it matter for a single-city operator?

A rising winter share means two things. Demand is less concentrated in summer, and some operators who pause from November to February are leaving bookings to whoever stays listed. Before deciding, check three things for your own city:

1. Who stays on the first page in winter. If the leaders keep running, the market is there.
2. What winter prices look like. If the median falls, competitors are discounting to fill seats.
3. How much the page moves. More rank changes in winter can mean an easier window to climb.

What do the Spanish city pages show right now?

OTAlytics tracks Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and Valencia (all destinations). These are the first early-November readings, checked Nov 1, 2026, from the United States:

The Barcelona median is down 12.2% since our tracking window opened, Madrid’s up 1.3%. That’s one snapshot at the start of winter, not a seasonal trend. We’ll compare it with January readings before we draw any conclusion. All four pages are still full: 20 ranked tours each.

For Italy, our Rome page showed a €59 median with 4 tours moving this month, also checked Nov 1, 2026. We’ll publish winter-vs-summer comparisons once we hold a full season.

So should you pause in winter?

Not by default. A practical approach:

• Keep your best-ranked product live and cut the rest to fewer departures rather than delisting. A listing that disappears loses reviews and momentum.
• Price against the tours you actually compete with on the first page, not against your summer price.
• Watch rank weekly. If competitors pause and you hold, you may move up.

FAQ

Do tours sell in winter?

In Spain’s main cities, GetYourGuide says winter rose to almost 17% of bookings in 2025, from 10% in 2022.

Does this apply to Italy?

The study only covers Spain. We don’t have equivalent figures for Italy.

Should I delist my tours in winter?

Usually not. Cutting departures keeps the listing and its reviews alive.

How can I see if competitors stay listed?

Track your city’s first page weekly, for example on OTAlytics’ free city pages.

Internal links

• Barcelona
• Madrid
• Rome
• all destinations