3 out of 5 tourists visit the Destination Barcelona as a couple

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region presents the monographic report on silver tourism, 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.

Silver tourism is a type of tourism aimed at people aged 55 and over, with 13.8% of visitors staying overnight in the Destination Barcelona, 8.1% in the Barcelona city and 22.4% in the Barcelona region.

Within silver tourism we can classify these people according to their employment situation, thus obtaining two profiles of silver tourism, those who have an active employment status (Silver Active Labor) and those who do not have an active employment status (Silver Non Active Labor).

These two profiles of silver tourism are characterized by:

Tourist Silver Active Labor

Tourists aged 55 and over who are actively employed, represent 61.3% of silver tourism in the Destination Barcelona, 72.0% in the Barcelona city and 55.4% in the Barcelona region. It stands out with respect to the other silver profiles in the Destination as a whole for being:

• The tourist with the highest proportion of men (71.6%).
• The higher proportion of arrivals in own vehicle (30.5%) and staying in hotels (66.8%).
• The higher proportion of professional tourists (25.8%).
• The highest proportion of repeat visitors (62.4%).
• The tourist who travels the most in the municipality by taxi (24.1%) and own vehicle (14.3%).
• Highest expenses in the three items: €72.58 during the stay (per person per night), €412.50 arrival transport (per person) and €84.66 accommodation (per person per day).

Tourist Silver Non Active Labor

Tourists aged 55 and over who are not actively employed, represent 38.7% of silver tourism in the Destination Barcelona, 28.0% in the Barcelona city and 44.6% in the Barcelona region. Its distinctive features in the Destination as a whole are:

• The tourist with the highest proportion of women (43.0%).
• The oldest tourist profile (67.1 years).
• Higher weight of national tourists (34.9%).
• The most frequent visitor to the municipality for leisure reasons (70,4%).
• A higher average stay (6.0 nights).
• The profile that comes most often as a couple (71.5%).
• The tourist who walks the most in the municipality of accommodation (78.7%).

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                

The Profile and Habits of Tourists in Destination Barcelona 2023 has been undertaken thanks to 1,824 surveys to visitors aged 55 and over that stayed overnight in Destination Barcelona in the months of January to December 2023 in any type of accommodation other than a second home or a cruise 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 this monograph of the possibility of comparing the silver profile analyzed with the silver profile analyzed the previous year, with the exception of the non active silver tourist in the city of Barcelona, as we do not have a statistically significant base, as well as the total 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 Silver Tourism
• Results report. Monograph on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in the Barcelona 2023 Destination on Silver tourism