Destination Barcelona, site of large events in February

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 30/01/24.

Connectivity at the destination

• Flight offer at Barcelona Airport: Barcelona is currently served by 72 airlines flying to 160 destinations, 38 of which are intercontinental. Over the next 2 months, about 4.6 million seats will be offered monthly, which is +15.6% YoY and +4.6% on the same period of 2019. As a novelty, it should be mentioned that Cathay Pacifc will recover the Barcelona-Hong Kong route in June.
• Cruises at Port de Barcelona: 15 cruise ships are expected to arrive in Barcelona in February.

Agenda

• Culture and leisure events: Next month Destination Barcelona will experience many multitudinous events: Llum BCN festival, Santa Eulàlia festivities in Barcelona city, Fira de la Candelera in Molins de Rei, the eDreams Barcelona Half Marathon, the celebration of Carnival in different towns, and various events at Palau Sant Jordi.
• Professional and trade fair events: The largest professional event is expected to be MWC/4YFN, were 88,500 people are expected to attend.
• Holidays of outbound markets: In February, China will have a school holiday to celebrate the Chinese New Year until 25 February. In addition, several European markets, such as France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, will also have a half-term holidays.

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 2023 However, they both have followed a slight upward trend since the begining of the year.
• 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 9th for flight searches. These positioning has worsened if compared with the same period last year.

Accommodation demand forecast

• Seasonality and hotel bookings lead time: Over the last weeks, hotel bookings for Destination Barcelona have recorded a higher level than the same period of 2023. The lead time for bookings made in December has stood at almost 62 days in Barcelona city and 68 days in Barcelona region, so that it has increased in both geographical areas YoY.
• Origin and travel group: International bookings in January have exceeded domestic bookings in Barcelona city (68.6%), while in Barcelona region, domestic bookings have been the most frequent (63.7%). In Barcelona city, bookings from the United States (15.0%) were the most frequent international bookings, while those from France (8.9%) 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. However, it must be taken into account that this year Easter holidays will be earlier than last year (in March), which has caused the level of bookings to be slightly lower than last year in April.The Spanish market is the one with the highest levels of bookings for the upcoming 3 months, especially in Barcelona region.
• Length of stay: The average length of stay for bookings between February and April 2024 is 3.8 nights in Barcelona city and 2.8 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. The volume of bookings in Barcelona city and Barcelona region is behind of Madrid’s. However, both the average length of stay and the ADR of bookings for Barcelona city are higher than Madrid.
   

Destination Barcelona Tourism Forecast report (30/01/24)