Destination Barcelona to resume congress and trade fair activity in September

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 29/08/23.

Connectivity at the destination

• International air capacity: The worldwide flight air supply will reach a recovery of 100% compared to prepandemic levels in the upcoming 2 months, while in November, it will experience a decrease below them.
• Flight offer at Barcelona Airport: Barcelona is currently served by 88 airlines flying to 200 destinations, of which 50 are intercontinental. Over the next months, more than 5 million seats will be offered monthly, which is +6.9% ahead last year and -9.9% behind pre-pandemic levels. In June 2024 American Airlines will connect Barcelona and Dallas with a daily flight with capacity for over 270 passengers.
• Cruises at Port de Barcelona: 92 cruise ships are expected to arrive in Barcelona in September.

Agenda

• Culture and leisure events: Destination Barcelona will continue hosting musical events in September, including five major concerts at Palau Sant Jordi and Barcelona Acció Musical (BAM), as part of the Mercè festival. In the sporting area, it is worth highlighting the holding of several football matches, the Mercè Run, three events at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, the Salomon Ultra Pirineu race and the First preliminary regatta of the America’s Cup in Vilanova i la Geltrú.
• Professional events and trade fairs: After the summer break in trade fair and congress activity, professional events will return in September. More than twenty confirmed congresses have been confirmed for this period, apart from several trade fairs with a notable number of expected attendees, such as the Alimentaria FoodTech, which could attract 15,000 people.

Interest for the destination

• Online search trends: Over last weeks, searches for both Barcelona city and Destination Barcelona have followed an upward trend.
• Positioning of the destination in online searches: Over the last month, Destination Barcelona has maintained its positioning in the ranking of international destinations for accommodation searches (6th) and flight searches (8th).
   

Accommodation demand forecast

• Seasonality and hotel bookings lead time: Over the last weeks, hotel bookings for Barcelona city have been lower than in the same period of 2022, while in Barcelona region, higher. The lead time for bookings made in August has stood at 54.6 days in Barcelona city and 36.8 days in Barcelona region, so that it has decreased in both geographical areas MoM.
• Origin and travel group: International bookings in August have exceeded domestic bookings in Barcelona city (76.2%), while in Barcelona region, domestic bookings have been the most frequent (57.5%). In Barcelona city, bookings from the United States (16.2%) were the most frequent international bookings, while those from France (16.0%) were the most frequent in Barcelona region. More than half of the bookings were made for travelling as a couple.
• Level of bookings: Currently, the level of bookings for the next quarter is above the level recorded last year in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region, particularly for stays in September. The US market in Barcelona city and the Spanish market in Barcelona region are the ones with the highest levels of bookings for this period.
• Length of stay: The average length of stay for bookings between September and November is 3.6 nights in Barcelona city and 3.7 nights in Barcelona region.
• Benchmark: Barcelona city and Barcelona region are, respectively, in the first and the last position in the ranking of hotel bookings of European destinations analysed for stays during the next three months. The volume of bookings in Barcelona city is ahead of Madrid’s, while the ADR, is below it.

Destination Barcelona Tourism Forecast report (29/08/23)