In April 2021, an improvement of the indicators of the tourist activity in Destination Barcelona has kept being registered, compared to March. This has been mainly due to the erase of the regional lockdown for bubble groups during the Easter holidays first (end of March / early April), and for the general population during the last week of the month. However, the activity is still way behind 2019 levels, and it can’t be compared to 2020 because of its inexistence due to the total lockdown.

During April 2021, the accommodation offer in Destination Barcelona has kept growing in approximately 200 establishments and about 10,000 places compared to February, although the capacity has been -51.9% lower (var.21/19). This reduction keeps being more pronounced in Barcelona city (-58.4% in hotel beds) than in Barcelona region (-41.4% in the total analyzed number of beds).

The overnight stays figures have clearly improved in all types of accommodation compared to March in Destination Barcelona. However, the losses in the number of tourists remain significant (var. 21/19), and higher than those registered in March in some cases: -86.7% in hotel establishments -49.5% in campsites, and -46.7% in rural tourism. The hotel establishments in Barcelona city have kept experiencing higher losses of tourists (-89.4%) than those in Barcelona region (-80.9%). On the other hand, the average length of stay in Barcelona city in homes for tourist use continues being high (7.6 nights), although lower than in march (-0.6 nights). It is important to remember, that this is due to a possible conversion of these into seasonal rental homes.

Barcelona Airport has registered a loss of 6.5 million passengers (-80,3% YoY 21/19) during the first four months of the year. Meanwhile, in Barcelona port, ​​the cruise activity remains interrupted, which has meant a loss of almost 200,000 passengers in this means of transport. As for ferries, the drop in the number of passengers in April has been -75,7% (var. 21/19).

National tourism remains dominant in all kinds of accommodation: 2 out of 3 tourists in hotel establishments are Spanish, and almost all of them, in rural tourism and campsites. However, international tourism has slightly grown in proportion compared to the previous months. In Barcelona city, from January to April 2021, the arrival of French and Italian tourists keeps standing out, although their proportion is quite far from the national tourists (66.8% reside in Spain, 12.0% in France and 2.9% in Italy).

Finally, in the accumulated annual ranking of countries from which passengers fly to Barcelona Airport, the arrival of passengers on domestic flights keeps being the most important one above the rest of the origins, in line with the accommodation data. These have been followed by passengers traveling from France and Germany. The UK maintain its ninth position because of the measures to contain the British variant of Covid-19.

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With the analysis of the different thematic areas, which offer a transversal vision of the sector, the Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the monitoring of the tourism activity. This analysis complements the monthly report on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in Barcelona Destination. All data is presented in three geographical areas: Barcelona city, Barcelona region, and Destination Barcelona.

Consult the interactive report on the Latest data section: