The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region presents the monographic report on professional tourism, which includes the main conclusions of this profile of tourists in the three usual geographical areas that the OTB covers: Barcelona city, Barcelona region and Destination Barcelona.

Professional tourism is a type of tourism aimed at all those people who travel for a specific professional and/or business reason to a place outside their place of work and residence to attend an incentive trip, a congress, a trade fair or a professional meeting, with 17.8% of visitors staying overnight in the Destination Barcelona, 18.9% in the Barcelona city and 16.0% in the Barcelona region.

Within professional tourism we can classify these people according to their business purpose of travel, thus obtaining two profiles of professional tourism, those who do it to attend an incentive trip, a congress or a fair (Event Professional) and those who do it to attend a professional meeting (Meeting Professional).

These two profiles of professional tourism are characterized by:

Professional Events Tourist

This is the tourist who has traveled for a specific professional and/or business reason to attend an incentive trip, a congress or trade fair, represent 59.8% of professional tourism in the Destination Barcelona, 84.3% in the Barcelona city and 16.1% in the Barcelona region. It stands out with respect to the other professional profiles in the Destination as a whole for having:

• 90.3% of the weight of these tourists in Barcelona city.
• Higher weight of international tourists (80.9%).
• Higher proportion of arrivals by plane (85.5%).
• A higher proportion of repeat visitors (67.3%).
• More tourists traveling with work colleagues (46.4%).
• The tourist who travels the most in the municipality by taxi (55.3%).
• A higher proportion of those attending a football match as a spectator (81.0%).
• Highest expenses in the three items: €109.47 during the stay (per person per night), €521.84 arrival transport (per person) and €161.72 accommodation (per person per day).
• A profile with a higher proportion of university studies (89.8%).

Professional Meeting Tourist

This is the tourist who has traveled for a specific professional and/or business reason to attend a professional meeting, represent 40.2% of professional tourism in the Destination Barcelona, 15.7% in the Barcelona city and 83.9% in the Barcelona region. Its distinctive features in the Destination as a whole are:

• Have the 74,9% of the weight of these tourists in Barcelona region.
• The oldest tourist profile (42.8 years).
• The most national (54.9%).
• The tourist who is most informed by the organization in order to plan the trip (47.5%).
• They stay most frequently in hotels (86.8%).
• The profile that most often comes alone (52.2%).
• Have a higher percentage of excursionists (25.9%).
• The tourist who runs around the municipality the most (44.7%).
• The most employed (80.1%).

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                

The Profile and Habits of Tourists in Destination Barcelona 2023 has been undertaken thanks to 2,170 surveys to visitors aged 18 and over that stayed overnight in Destination Barcelona in the months of January to December 2023 in any type of accommodation other than a second home or a cruise and who traveled for a specific professional and/or business reason, with the objective of getting to know better the profile and habits of travelers during their stay in Destination Barcelona.

It is worth highlighting the incorporation in this monograph of the possibility of comparing the professional profile analyzed with the professional profile analyzed the previous year and the total number of tourists who have visited the Destination by hovering the mouse over the response options in the graphs.

More information:

• Infographics of Profile and Habits of Tourists in Destination Barcelona 2023 on Professional Tourism
• Results report. Monograph on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in the Barcelona 2023 Destination on Professional tourism