In January 2022, the tourist activity in Destination Barcelona fell again if compared to the previous month, due to the irruption of Omicron and the inherent seasonality of tourism. Although the activity continued to be much higher than during 2021, the differences in demand compared to 2019 were around -35%, as for the total number of overnight stays in the analysed accommodation in the Destination.

In January, the beds supply in hotel establishments in Destination Barcelona slightly grew, adding up about 1,000 new places (+1,0%) and the global capacity was doubled compared to the same period in 2021.

The tourism demand fell about -28%, compared to December 2021, in the whole of Destination Barcelona, although in campsites and rural tourism dwellings in Barcelona region, the drops were higher (about -40% and -50%, respectively in overnight stays). Besides, in homes for tourist use in Barcelona city, the registered loss was over -30%. On the other hand, in hotel establishments, the losses were lower, around -22%. This drop in activity caused a new setback in the recovery of the prepandemic levels.

At Barcelona Airport, 1.7 million passengers arrived in January, which meant more than half a million less passengers than in the previous month, and -48.0% behind January 2019.

Although the -23.8%-decrease of domestic tourism in January in hotel establishments, its share stood at 43.6%, achieving the first position of the ranking of tourists in this kind of accommodation. However, international tourism remained over the national in the whole of the Destination (56.4%), because of the high prevalence of foreign tourists in Barcelona city (64.5%), where their proportion was also reduced (-22.3% MoM). Despite all of this, in Barcelona city, French tourists continued being predominant (10.2% of share and -37.2% MoM), followed by the Italians (-33.7% MoM) and the Dutch (+11,8% MoM), with 4.9% and 4.5% of share, respectively. They were followed by the Americans, with a 4.2%-share but a -45.1%-MoM loss.

At Barcelona Airport, the passengers on domestic flights (35.3%) was lower than those on international flights (64.7%). Despite being far from the domestic flight passengers, those travelling from France achieved the second position, followed by those from Italy, Germany, and the UK.

Regarding the economic impact of tourism in Barcelona city in January, purchases with bank cards in the city shops also show how the expense in tourism activity was almost doubled compared to the same period last year, while culture and leisure expense grew by over than +50%. The use of international cards remained quite stable. On the other hand, the expense during the stay per person and day in the whole of the Destination stood at 59.6€ (slightly higher than the 2021 weighted average, 57.5€).

Finally, the tourism activity job market kept improving in January: registered unemployment continued falling, and for the fifth consecutive month, it was lower than pre-pandemic levels (-17.7% compared to 2019). However, the new hiring decreased over the previous months, because of the drop of the new temporary contracts.

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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: