The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 03/09/2021. This report highlights the effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector.

Covid-19 situation

Covid-19 preventive measures continue despite the increasing number of worldwide vaccinations.

In Catalonia, from the 03/09 to the 09/09, the following measures affect the tourism sector:

• Restaurants and bars: 50% of capacity on the inside and 100% on the outside of the establishments. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Commerce: 70% of capacity on shops without surface limit
• Professional events: allowed at 70% of their capacity
• Culture: 70% of capacity in museums, exhibition centers, cinemas and concert halls until 23 h. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Nightlife: closed except totally outdoor venues. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Sports: public is allowed at 70% of capacity. In outdoor sports activities with a capacity of more than 10,000 people, 30% is allowed if there are independent sectors of 3,000 people.
• Amusement parks: 50% of capacity
  
   

Source markets

The EU Digital COVID certificate is operational. In Spain, the entrance of passengers from EU countries (or zones) with risk is allowed if one of the following is presented:

1. Vaccination certificate

2. Diagnosis certificate

3. Recovery certificate

The rest of EU passengers are accepted without any certificate.

On the other hand, passengers traveling from intercontinental countries are also accepted as long as they present the vaccination certificate. However, the EU has recommended new travel restictions for US due to extreme risk of Covid-19.

Transportation offer

The global airlines capacity during 30/08 week has decreased by -31.4%, and in Spain, by -25.1% (var. 21/19), although increasing by 15,000 seats the capacity on the previous week.

The forecasts show an increase in the number of seats operated worldwide in October. However it must be reminded that airlines continue to readjust their flight schedules week after week.

During the following week,12 cruises ships are leaving or making a stopover at Barcelona Port.

Tourist offer and professional events

In Barcelona city, 230 hotels with 48,573 beds remain open. The Eixample, the Gothic Quarter, and Sant Martí are the districts with more available offer.

Beasides, 88.6% of the cultural facilities in Barcelona city are open, while more restrictive measures for the development of cultural, popular, and sports activities are being added: Only events with seated assistants are allowed. 

As for the professional events, it must be highlighted that there are 116 confirmed congresses for the upcoming years, 31 in 2021. Meanwhile, about 90 applications are open until 2027.

Tourist demand

Over the last week, Google searches from Spain for both Barcelona city and Destination Barcelona have decreased. Most of the searches for both geographical areas keep coming from Catalonia.

The Barcelona flights and accommodation searches achieve their best positioning on the French, the Spanish, the Dutch and the Italian markets, followed by United Kingdom. Destination Barcelona has ranked, 11th in searches of accommodation and 7th in searches of flights in the ranking of international destinations worldwide.

Finally, from 22/08 to 28/08, hotel reservations in Barcelona city stood at 52.2% compared to the series peak (January 2020) and above those of the same period in 2020. On the other hand, in the Barcelona region, they stood at 60.9% compared to the series peak (June 2021) and similar to those of 2019. In Barcelona city, international bookings (2 out of 3) are still above the national ones, while in Barcelona region, the national ones (almost 6 out of 10) are higher than the international ones. The lead time has been been 12 days in Barcelona city and 8 days in Barcelona region, over the previous week lead times.

Destination Barcelona tourism forecast (03/09/2021)