The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 30/04/2021. This report highlights the effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector.

Covid-19 restrictive measures

Covid-19 preventive measures continue despite the increasing number of worldwide vaccinations.

In Catalonia, from the 9th May, the following measures will affect the tourism sector:

- Restaurants and bars: 30% of capacity on the inside and 100% on the outside of the establishments. Opening hours from 7.30 am to 23 h. 

- Commerce: 30% of capacity on shops without surface limit

- Professional events: congresses, corporate meetings, and incentives and workshops have been canceled.

- Culture: 50% of capacity in cinemas, concert halls, museums and exhibition centers.

- Amusement parks: 30% of capacity

Check here the restrictions until the 8th of May.

Several Autonomous Communities keep applying perimeter lockdowns. However, the Spanish government has announced the ending of the state of alarm on 09/05/21.

Source markets

European internal borders keep open but almost all EU countries maintain restrictive measures. 

The entry measures to all passengers flying from Brazil and South Africa, due to new variants of the virus will be mantained in Spain until the 11/05. Moreover, passengers flying from India from the 1st of May will have to quarantine upon their arrival. This measure will be mantained during 14 days at least.

The EU COVID-19 certificate has been approved. It will allow movements within the continent to those who have been vaccinated or produced antibodies and to those who have been tested (PCR or an antigen test). In order to avoid discrimination against those not vaccinated and for economic reasons, EU countries should also “ensure universal, accessible, timely and free of charge testing”. This certificate could be available at the beginning of the summer.

This week, the European Commission also announced plans to allow vaccinated Americans to enter the EU.

Air capacity

The global airlines capacity during 26/04 week has been -43.8%, and in Spain -75,1% (var. 21/19). However, Spain has experienced a +11.2% increase if compared to the previous week.

The forecasts show a slow recovery in the number of seats operated worldwide over the coming weeks, although far from 2019 (-37.5%). This recovery would be more intense in the case of the domestic flights, which for the coming weeks would stand at -15.8% compared to 2019, while for international flights, the fall would be -67.8%.

At Barcelona Airport, routes to/from Mexico (Aeromexico and Emirates) will be restored from July and Vueling will connect the city with Belfast and Newcastle, adding up to a total of 78 international connections.

Tourist offer and professional events

In Barcelona city, 134 hotels with 31,479 beds remain open. The Eixample, the Gothic Quarter, and Sant Martí are the districts with more available offer.

81.8% of the cultural facilities in Barcelona city are open to the public. However, some of the most visited sightseeing places in Barcelona city keep temporarily closed: Sagrada Familia, Tibidabo and Casa Batlló, which has just announced its reopening for May the 14th.

As for the professional events, it must be highlighted that there are 102 confirmed congresses for the upcoming years, 51 in 2021.

Tourist demand

Over the last week, Google searches from Spain for both, Barcelona city and Destination Barcelona have increased. Most of the searches for both geographical areas keep coming from Catalonia.

The Barcelona flights and accommodation searches achieve their best positioning on the Dutch, the French, the Italian and the Spanish markets, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom. Destination Barcelona has ranked 11th in search of accommodation and 16th in search of flights in the ranking of international destinations worldwide.

The hotel bookings in Barcelona city over the last week (18/04-24/04) have remained slightly increased: while two weeks ago, 23.6% of bookings had been made, last week, they were 25.6% (as compared with the peak of January 2020). Over the same week, the volume of hotel reservations in Destination Barcelona has been also higher: while two weeks ago, 39.9% of bookings have been made, last week, they were 51.8% (as compared with the peak of January 2020).

Destination Barcelona tourism forecast (30/04/2021)