The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 22/07/22. 

Covid-19 restrictions

In Catalonia, the use of facemasks in public transport is mandatory.

In Spain, intercontinental passengers are allowed to enter with a EU Digital COVID certificate or a vaccination, diagnostic or recovery certificate.

Passengers from EU or Schengen countries are accepted without any certificate. 

Transportation offer

The forecasts show an increase in the number of seats operated worldwide through the next weeks, altough below prepandemic levels. In October, air capacity would reach 85% of recorded supply in the same month of 2019. In Spain, this week, the air capacity has stood at only -6.8% compared to the same week in 2019, while at Barcelona Airport, 191 routes, 44 of them intercontinental, are currently operating.

During the following week, 23 cruise ships are leaving or making a stopover at Barcelona Port. In August about 79 cruises will operate in the city.

Tourist offer and professional events

By the end of June 2022, 437 hotels and 75,778  bed supplies were open in Barcelona city.

As for the culture offer, 97.8% of the cultural facilities in Barcelona city are open.

There are currently 155 congresses confirmed for the upcoming years, 94 from August to December 2022. In the meanwhile, about 100 applications are open until 2027.

Tourist demand

Over the last week, Google searches from Spain for Barcelona city increased, while in Destination Barcelona they decreased. Most of the searches for both geographical areas kept coming from Catalonia.

From 05/07/22 to 11/07/22, Destination Barcelona got its best positioning in Spain, France, The Netherlands, and Italy. Destination Barcelona ranked the 7th in searches for both accommodation and flights in the ranking of international destinations worldwide.

Finally, from 11/07/22 to 18/07/22, hotel reservations in Barcelona city stood, on average, at 84.8% compared to the series peak, which was in February 2021. These levels were higher than those of the previous week (73.9%). In Barcelona region, bookings recorded a new series high (since January 2019), exceeding the previous week's bookings by +28pp. In terms of origin, international bookings exceeded domestic bookings in both Barcelona city (75.7%) and Barcelona region (51.1%). Currently, the bookings level for the rest of the year is above last year, especially for stays during the summer months in Barcelona city, and the lead time is 46 days in Barcelona city and 33 days in the Barcelona region.

Destination Barcelona tourism forecast (22/07/22)