1 out of 3 tourists visit Destination Barcelona as a couple

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region has published the monthly report on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in the Destination of Barcelona for January 2026, which provides data on the monthly tourist activity about the three usual geographical areas that the OTB covers Barcelona city, Barcelona region, and Destination Barcelona.

In this report, we can see how the typical tourist profile who has visited Destination Barcelona is that of a man (66.2%), with an average age of 38.2 years, who has traveled for leisure (55.8%) and who has already had visited the municipality previously (52.1%).

As for the travel group, we can highlight that in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region tourists who came as a couple were the most common (37.6% and 33.7% respectively), followed by those who came alone, 25.9% in Barcelona city and 31.9% in Barcelona region.

The plane has been positioned, for another month, as the most used means of transport to reach the Destination Barcelona (67.1%), to the detriment of the private vehicle (18.6%) and the train (11.9%). In Barcelona city, 79.3% of tourists have arrived in the city by air, while in Barcelona region, 51.5% have done it by private car.

For another month, when traveling within the municipality, the majority of tourists in Destination Barcelona have chosen to do it on foot (29.3%), with metro and foot being the main means of transport within the city (31.2% and 24.8%, respectively) and on foot (49.0%) in the region.

On the other hand, 12.6% of the Destination’s tourists have made an excursion outside the municipality of overnight stay. This proportion remained higher in Barcelona region (27.0%) than in Barcelona city (6.4%).

During the stay, which 4.1 days on average, doing cultural visits (60.4%) and shopping (52.2%) have been the most popular activities. It is noteworthy that in Barcelona city, 54.0% of tourists have gone to the beach, while in Barcelona region, 49.7% carried out a work or business activity, making this, once again, the main activity undertaken in the municipality.

An 10.3%-increase in the total expense during the stay per person per day has been observed compared to the previous months, with a value of €97.96. Also, as historically, most of this expenditure is still spent on food and drink, followed, in that order, by shopping, culture and internal transport.

The average overall rating of the city was 8.61 out of 10. The best rated aspects this month were the public transport (8.58), the shops (8.48), the bars and restaurants (8.43) and the character and friendliness of the people (8.42). Noteworthy that while in Barcelona city the public transport (8.69), the shops (8.59), the bars and restaurants (8.54) and the accommodation (8.41) were the most highly rated items by tourists, in Barcelona region it was the character and friendliness of the people (8.71), the natural environment (8,56) and the personal security (8,54).

More information: Results report. Profile and habits of tourists in Destination Barcelona January 2026