Destination Barcelona to attract 80.000 people during ISE 2024

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 28/12/23.

Connectivity at the destination

• Flight offer at Barcelona Airport: Barcelona is currently served by 79 airlines flying to 167 destinations, 40 of which are intercontinental. Over the next 3 months, about 4.6 million seats will be offered monthly, which is +17.2% YoY and +4.5% on the first quarter of 2019.
• Cruises at Port de Barcelona: near 25 cruise ships are expected to arrive in Barcelona in January.

Agenda

• Esdeveniments culturals i de lleure: La Destinació Barcelona començarà l’any amb la programació d’un gran nombre d’esdeveniments relacionats amb el Nadal: fires, concerts especials, pessebres vivents i altres festes i tradicions populars es repartiran arreu del territori durant el mes de gener, sobretot les primeres setmanes. En l’ambit esportiu, cal destacar partits de futbol i bàsquet (alguns amb equips visitants internacionals) i la celebració del Torneig Internacional d’Hoquei de Reis. En el cultural, destacar dos grans concerts al Palau Sant Jordi, Joan Dausà i Laura Pausini, que podrien arribar a atreure assistents d’arreu de Catalunya, en el primer cas, i d’Espanya, en el segon. Els Tres Tombs prendran el protagonisme de diverses poblacions de la destinació a finals de mes.
• Esdeveniments professionals i fires: El calendari de fires i congressos arrencarà de nou a partir de meitats de mes.The largest professional event is expected to be the ISE 2024, with an attendance of approximately 80,000 people.
• Holidays of outbound markets: Most of the European markets will be on school Christmas holidays during the first week of the year. Argentina and South Korea will have holidays throughout the month, and China, from 20/01, to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Interest for the destination

• Online search trends: Over last weeks, searches for both Barcelona city and Destination Barcelona have been ahead of those registered in the same period of 2022. However, they both have followed a downward trend in the last months.
• Positioning of the destination in online searches: Over the last month, Destination Barcelona has ranked the 12th in the ranking of international destinations for accommodation searches and 6th for flight searches. These results are higher than those of the same period last year.

Accommodation demand forecast

• Seasonality and hotel bookings lead time: Over the last weeks, hotel bookings for Barcelona city have recorded a similar level than the same period of 2022, while those for Barcelona region, have been higher. The lead time for bookings made in December has stood at almost 50 days in Barcelona city and 57 days in Barcelona region, so that it has increased in both geographical areas YoY.
• Origin and travel group: International bookings in December have exceeded domestic bookings in Barcelona city (62.3%), while in Barcelona region, domestic bookings have been the most frequent (70.2%). In Barcelona city, bookings from the United States (11.4%) were the most frequent international bookings, while those from France (8.5%) were the most frequent in Barcelona region. 6 out of every 10 bookings were made for travelling as a couple.
• Level of bookings: Currently, the level of bookings for the next quarter is above the level recorded last year in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region. The Spanish market is the one with the highest levels of bookings for this period, especially in Barcelona region.
• Length of stay: The average length of stay for bookings between January and March 2024 is 3.5 nights in Barcelona city and 3.7 in Barcelona region.
• Benchmark: Barcelona city and Barcelona region are, respectively, in the third and the last position in the ranking of hotel bookings of European destinations analysed for stays during the next three months. Both, the volume of bookings and the ADR in Barcelona city is behind of Madrid’s, while the average length of stay is much higher.
   

Destination Barcelona Tourism Forecast report (28/12/23)