• The number of bed supplies in accommodation has increased by 4.0% in Barcelona Destination, mainly due to the opening of new establishments in Barcelona region (+16.3%).
• In Barcelona city, the number of establishments has remained stable and the number of bed supplies has slightly grown (+1.7%).
• The number of tourists has increased in a higher proportion than the number of overnight stays (+4.5% and +2.6% respectively), which has led to a slight decrease in the average stay (-0.1pp) in the whole destination.
• In Destination Barcelona, the bed occupancy rate has increased in all types of accommodation, except in campsites.
• Once again, in 2019, the number of passengers in Barcelona Airport, in Barcelona Port and on trains breaks all records.

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region has published the first capsule of the 2019 Barcelona Tourism Activity Report, which provides the first data on tourist activity at the three geographical levels that the OTB works: Barcelona city, Barcelona region and Destination Barcelona. This capsule contains three chapters with data on accommodation, tourist demand and infrastructures.

In 2019, thanks to the moratorium on the licenses granted by the Barcelona City Council in 2015 and the launch of the PEUAT in 2017, the city of Barcelona has remained stable as for establishments number and it has registered a lower growth in bed supplies than Barcelona region (+1.7% vs +5.9%). In Barcelona city, the year ended with a total of 149,467 bed supplies and, in Barcelona region, 182,280, which means a total of 331,747 beds in Destination Barcelona.

In Barcelona city, the district that has experienced the largest increase in bed supplies has been Sant Martí, with 1,374 new units, while in Barcelona Destination, the region that has risen the most in beds supplies is Maresme (+3,794).

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In terms of tourism demand, in 2019 more than 20 million tourists and 50 million overnight stays were registered in Barcelona Destination, according to available data, since it must be taken into account that there is no demand data for Homes for Tourist Use in Barcelona region or youth-hostels data in the whole of Destination Barcelona.

The growth of tourists and overnight stays has been unequal (+4.5% and +2.6% respectively), which has led to a slight decrease in the average length of stay, which stands at 2.4 nights in 2019.

The hotels demand is the one that has grown the most in absolute terms in the city of Barcelona, ​​both in the number of tourists and overnight stays. However, in Barcelona region, the hotel demand has decreased (-1.8% in both tourists number and overnight stays), for the benefit of guesthouses and inns mainly (+30.4% of tourists and +19% of overnight stays).

Finally, in terms of infrastructures, once again we can say that 2019 broke all the records. Barcelona Airport registered 52.7 million passengers, which represents a growth of 5.0%. The increase in passengers on intercontinental flights was the most significant, with a rise of 14.8% year-on-year, tripling the 2010 figures.

Regarding the Port of Barcelona, ​​a +3.1% increase of cruise passengers has been noticed. The growth of those who embark and disembark on cruises has exceeded 5%, while in transit passengers have practically remained stable (+0.7%). Furthermore, ferry passengers also grew, by +2.7%.

Finally, international train passengers have increased by 3.0%, exceeding 8.5 million, while in 2019, more than 2.3 million passengers traveled on the Barcelona-Madrid high-speed train.

Related link: 

Barcelona tourism activity report 2019 - Capsule 1