The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region presents the monographic report on Blue, which includes the main conclusions of this profile of tourists in the three usual geographical areas that the OTB covers: Barcelona city, Barcelona region and Destination Barcelona.

The European Union defines Blue tourism as including all those people attracted by the sea and water, and who interact with them during their visit, with 48.4% of visitors staying overnight in Destination Barcelona, 47.6% in Barcelona city and 49.7% in the Barcelona region. It should be noted that in order to carry out the analysis at the three geographical levels monitored by the Observatory, we have taken into account for the analysis places with water, such as rivers, lakes or reservoirs, in addition to the sea.

Within Blue tourism we can classify these people according to the activity they carry out during their stay in the Barcelona destination, thus obtaining four Blue tourism profiles, two based on the sand, whether these are recreational (Ludic Sand) or active (Sand Active) and two on the water, those that take place next at the water’s edge (Shore) or in deeper waters or high sea (Deep Water).

These four Blue tourism profiles are characterized by:

Blue Tourist Ludic Sand

It is the one who goes to the water for a leisure activity but does not interact with the water, such as going to the beach bar, walking or sunbathing, represents 43.6% of blue tourism in Destination Barcelona, 50.3% of Barcelona city and 34.0% of Barcelona region. It stands out with respect to the other Blue tourist profiles in the Destination as a whole for being:

• The most frequent Blue tourist profile (43.6%).
• A higher proportion of arrivals by plane (69.1%) and a higher number of tourists staying in hotels (54.1%).
• A shorter average stay (4.5 nights).
• Highest expenses in the three items per person per day::

• €71.28 during the stay.
• €334.37 arrival transport.
• €75.24 accommodation.

Blue Tourist Sand Active

It is the tourist who goes to the coast and does some sport or professional activity, such as playing beach volleyball or football on the sand, it represents 8.8% of the blue tourism of Destination Barcelona, 8.1% of Barcelona city and 9.7% of Barcelona region. Its distinctive features in the Destination as a whole are:

• Being the profile most aware of sustainability (30.9%), which is also reflected in the fact that they are the ones who most use the train (9.6%) to reach the territory and the metro (37.9%) and bus (29.6%) to move internally.
•  The one who comes less with family and more with friends (23.8%) and alone (26.2%).
• The tourist who stays less in hotels and more in private homes (24.2%).
•  The youngest tourist profile (34.9 years).

Blue Tourist Shore

It includes those who do some activity in the water but close to the coast, such as bathing in the water or walking along the shore. They represent 34.2% of blue tourism in Destination Barcelona, 29.7% in Barcelona city and 40.7% in Barcelona region. They are different from the rest of blue tourism in the Destination as a whole because they are:

• The tourist with the highest proportion of women (43.1%).
•  The profile that comes most often as a couple (54.5%).
•  The tourist who makes the most excursions (30.2%).

Blue Tourist Deep Water

It is what we classically understand as maritime, those who need water to carry out their activity, classically representing aquatic or nautical activities such as open water swimming or paddle surfing. This profile represents 13.4% of blue tourism in Destination Barcelona, 11.9% of Barcelona city and 15.7% of Barcelona region, and stands out above the others in the whole Destination for being:

• The most international tourist profile (88.6%).
•  The tourist with the highest proportion of first-time visitors (61.4%).
•  The one with the highest average stay (7.5 nights).

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From June to December 2023, the Profile and Habits of Tourists in Destination Barcelona 2023 has included a series of questions in order to analyze the profile of the Blue tourist. These questions have been undertaken thanks to 4,514 surveys to visitors that stayed overnight in Destination Barcelona in the months of June to December 2023 in any type of accommodation other than a second home or a cruise and who have done any activity of Ludic Sand and/or Sand Active and/or Shore and/or Deep Water during their stay in the destination, with the objective of getting to know better the profile and habits of travelers during their stay in Destination Barcelona.

It is worth highlighting the inclusion in these monographs of the possibility of comparing the profile analyzed with the total Blue tourism and the overall number of tourists who have visited the Destination by hovering the mouse over the response options in the graphs.

More information:

• Infographics of Profile and Habits of Tourists in Destination Barcelona 2023 on Blue Tourism
• Results report. Monograph on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in the Barcelona 2023 Destination on Blue tourism