Domestic and American tourists top the ranking of Barcelona city summer visitors

The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region, offers below the main tourism activity monitoring indicators in Barcelona city and Barcelona region for this summer (information provided includes accumulated data of July and August):

Barcelona city

• Hotels and guesthouses supply has accounted for more than 650 establishments and 85,000 available beds this summer (+3.4% above the summer of 2019 in bed places).
• The number of tourists in hotels, guesthouses and homes for tourist use has decreased (-8.2% Var. 23/19), but thanks to a growth in the average stay (from 2.9 to 3.1 nights), overnight stays have almost remained at the same level (+0.2% Var. 23/19). Homes for tourist use have recorded the most significant increase in the average length of stay, up to 4.1 nights, while hotels and guest houses have recorded an average stay of 2.8 nights. On the other hand, the bed occupancy rate in homes for tourist use has stood at 63.0%, while in hotel establishments, at 80%.
• At Barcelona Airport, 30,000 flights have operated, slightly below the summer of 2023 (-8.2% Var. 23/19), carrying almost 10 million air passengers (-8.0% Var. 23/19).
• At Barcelona Port, although fewer cruises have been registered (-4.4% Var. 23/19), the arrival of cruise passengers has increased significantly (+14.3% Var. 23/19). As for the ferries, more than 65,000 operations have been carried out (+5.6% Var. 23/19), registering an increase of +22.1% in passengers compared to the same period of 2019.
• At ICUB’s cultural facilities, more than half a million visitors have been received, which is still about -9% below summer 2019. However, 3 out of every 4 summer visitors this year at these venues have been international.
• With a growth of +13.4% in arrivals compared (Var. 23/19), domestic tourists have been the most frequent in hotel establishments of Barcelona (15.1% share), followed by the American (13.6% share), which have maintained similar figures in arrivals compared to the summer before the pandemic (-0.9% Var. 23/19). Actually, in August, tourists from the United States were the most numerous, even overcoming the Spaniards. The third largest source of tourists during this summer has been the French market (9.3% share and -2.5% Var. 23/19), followed by the British (8.2% share and -8.6% Var. 23/19) and the German (4.9% share and -0.4% Var. 23/19).
• The typical tourist in Barcelona city this summer¹ has been a 33-year-old person, travelling for leisure (79.4%), arriving by plane (78.2%) and travelling as a couple (43.0%). The average expenditure during the stay in the city has stood at 83.1€ per person per day, which have been mainly spent on food and drink (46.1%), culture and entertainment (21.0%) and shopping for clothes, footwear, souvenirs and personal effects (18.1%).
• Bank card incomes in tourist establishments in Barcelona city has grown by almost 40% this summer, compared to 2019.
• Registered unemployment in the tourism activities remained below pre-pandemic levels (-16.3%) and permanent employment accounted for more than half of the new hiring (52.0%), compared to only 10.7% in summer 2019.

Barcelona region

• Hotels, guesthouses, rural tourism establishments, and campsites have accounted for almost 2,300 available establishments and 185,000 operational bedplaces this summer (-1.8% behind the summer of 2019). Most of the non-operational bedplaces were provided by hotel establishments, which, despite registering a +6.3%-growth in number of establishments compared to 4 years ago, registered a decline of 2,500 beds.
• Tourists staying in these types of establishments have been increased (+7.8% Var. 23/19), but despite registering a higher average than in Barcelona city (3.6 nights), their length of stay has been reduced by 0.3 nights compared to the summer of 2019, so that the number of overnight stays has slightly decreased (-1.2% Var. 23/19). In relative terms, rural tourism establishments have lost the most overnight stays (-4.3% var. 23/19), while campsites, with an average stay of 5.5 nights, have recorded a similar level of activity (-0.8% var. 23/19). However, the occupancy rates of bed-places have remained slightly higher than in summer 2019 in both cases.
• 1 out of every 3 tourists in hotel establishments of Barcelona region has been domestic. Thus, arrivals of Spanish tourists have increased by +11.4% compared to the same period in 2019. This growth has been slightly higher than that of international tourists, who have been increased by +7.2%.
• The typical tourist in Barcelona region this summer¹ has been a 43.1-year-old person, who has travelled for leisure (68.8%), who has arrived at the destination by plane (54.5%) and who has travelled as a couple (57.1%). Their average expenditure during their stay in the region was €40.2 per person per day, which has been mainly spent on food and drink (64.2%), shopping for clothes, footwear, souvenirs and personal effects (16.3%) and culture and entertainment (9.6%).
• Registered unemployment in the tourism sector has remained below pre-pandemic levels (-15.5%) and almost 2 out of every 3 new contracts were permanent (61.8%), while in summer 2019, this type of contract accounted for only 11.2%.

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