The Turisme Barcelona Observatory (OTB) has published its report on the results of the survey on the profile and habits of tourists visiting Barcelona with the aim of finding out about the behaviour of visitors staying overnight in Barcelona. The survey was carried out in different parts of the city throughout 2018 using random sampling. In addition to the socio-demographic profile it also took into account the three phases of the customer journey: before setting off (including booking their trip), the stay at the destination (including spending), and their impressions after their stay.

Among the main conclusions, we highlight the high levels of awareness about the importance of legally compliant accommodation (up 30 points over the past three years) and the steady growth in people travelling for personal reasons (10.9%). Indicators such as spending in Barcelona during the stay remained on the same level as last year, with an average of 328.2 € per person and 79.6 € per person per day. Professionals, visitors from North America and the Netherlands had a higher average spend than visitors from the rest of the world. Food and drink was the biggest item of expenditure, above shopping and entertainment.

Tourists visiting Barcelona have an average age of 36, have studied to graduate level (70.8%) and spend an average of 4.8 nights in the city. Half of them stay in hotels, followed by tourist apartments (20%) and with friends and family (14%). Most of the people staying in hotels are visiting for professional reasons. They account for 27.3% of the total number of tourists in hotels. 50.7% of visitors staying in tourist apartments say that they have taken the trouble to check that they comply with legal requirements, showing a level of awareness that has risen from 19.7% to 50.7% over the past three years.

The survey shows the flow of people who visit or want to visit other places outside Barcelona. Bearing in mind that 46.8% of the people polled had already been to Barcelona, 9.3% had travelled outside the city, showing a growing, albeit slight, trend towards decentralisation.