The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region publishes a new Destination Barcelona tourism activity forecast report (May 2024 edition).

The main conclusions of this new edition of the report are presented below:

• Air capacity in Barcelona in May is expected to exceed 5.8 million seats. During the summer air season, an average of 5.7 million seats per month will be offered at Barcelona airport.
• 104 cruise ships are expected to arrive at Barcelona Port this month, slightly below of May 2023. This month will stand as one of the busiest of the year.
• The cultural and leisure agenda in the Destination will feature various sporting events, such as the last league matches of FCB and RCDE, the Moto GP Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy. In the field of culture and traditions, the Feria de Abril, the Modernist Fair of Terrassa, the International Museum Day and various events related to Corpus Christi, such as the Patum of Berga, are worth mentioning.
• The congresses with the most expected attendance will be the 8th IOT Solutions World Congress 2024/5th Barcelona Cibersecurity Congress (12,000 attendees).
• In addition, several fairs will be held, the largest of which will be the Fira del Còmic (110,000 attendees).
• Several source markets will enjoy school holidays this month: France, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Singapore. In addition, China will have 5 consecutive public holidays at the beginning of the month.
• In the last month, Google searches for Barcelona city as a tourist destination have registered slightly lower levels than in 2023, while for Destination Barcelona they have been higher. The most popular online search terms keep being Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona city, and some coastal destinations of Garraf, such as Sitges and Cubelles, in Destination Barcelona.
• In the last month, Destination Barcelona has improved its international online positioning, ranking 7th for accommodation searches and 6th for flights.
• Hotel bookings made during the last month were led by the domestic market and, in Barcelona city, bookings from the USA were the most frequent international bookings, while in Barcelona region, were those from France. 6 out of 10 bookings were for travelling as a couple.
• Bookings for stays in May are almost at the same level than last year's in the same period.
• In comparison with other European destinations, Barcelona city has a similar level of hotel bookings to London and Rome, while Barcelona region is well below.

More information: Destination Barcelona Tourism Activity Forecast (2024-V)