• The typical tourist profile has been a 42.9 -year-old person, who has university studies, who has traveled with the family, for leisure and holidays reasons, who arrives in the region by own vehicle , and who has visited the destination municipality 23.5 times on average.
• As in 2020, restrictions and measures imposed internationally to contain Covid-19 have changed the profile of the tourist in Barcelona region during 2021.
• The expense during the stay has been € 150.0 per person and € 40.3 per person and day. Food and drink has been the item where more resources have been allocated.

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona has published a new study on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in Barcelona region. This study, which has revealed the change in the profile and habits of tourists as a result of the international pandemic situation, has been undertaken thanks to 4.839 surveys to visitors that stayed overnight in Barcelona region in 2021.

The tourist who travels to Barcelona region is an average of 42.9 years old, has university studies (50.8%), works as an employee (67.3%) and travels mostly with the family (30.6%), as a couple (29.1%) or alone (20.7%). Leisure and holiday have been the main reasons to visit the region (62.7%), while the own vehicle (63.6%) has been the most used means of transport to arrive.

Although 19.2% of tourists do not consult any source of information when planning the trip, the tourist behave in the same way as those who visit Barcelona city:  they use the information provided from both, websites (49.6%) and friends and relatives (18.0%). On the other hand, the purchase of the arrival transport and the accommodation has been made directly with the company, both through the website (54.9% and 40.9% respectively) and through other channels (17.8% and 26.9% respectively.

Despite the restrictions caused by the Covid-19, the type of accommodation used by tourists in the region during 2021 has not experienced major differences compared to previous years; projecting one more year, a majority of visitors staying in hotels (65.6%), followed by those in campsites (19.5%) and in private homes (with friends, relatives) (8.1%). The average length of stay has been 4.4 nights.

Tourists in the Barcelona region are attracted by character and friendliness of the people, the personal security, the accommodation, the natural environment and the climate and tend to take quiet walks to relax (81.5%) and go to restaurants (78.0%) during their stay.

The expense during the stay has also experienced significant differences compared to previous years, with falls exceeding -25%, reaching € 150.0 per person and € 40.3 per person per day, still far from € 196.5 per person and € 44.1 per person per day in the pre-pandemic period. Despite this variation, the tourist continues to spend more than half of this expenditure on food and drink, followed, in this order, by shopping, internal transportation and entertainment.

Finally, the report also includes an analysis of the places that tourists visit or want to visit outside the municipality where they stay overnight: 31.6% of the surveyed tourists have made an excursion outside the municipality (13.9% in Barcelona city), a trend that has decreased considerably compared to previous pre-pandemics years. Tourists staying in private houses (with friends, relatives) and HTUs and those aged between 18 and 24 are, proportionally, those who usually make one or more excursions.

Analyzing the behavior and weight of the Barcelonès region within the Barcelona region, it is possible to consult the data of the Barcelona region without this region through the report of results of the Survey on the profile and habits of Tourists visiting Barcelona surroundings during 2021.

More infomation: Report on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in Barcelona region 2021