The percentage of tourists arriving at Destination Barcelona in sustainable collective vehicles increased in 2024

The OTB has presented the updated results for 27 out of the 30 indicators from the Sustainable Tourism Indicator System (SITS–OTB), a task that is carried out periodically based on data availability*. This update includes the latest figures for 9 environmental, 7 economic, and 10 sociocultural indicators across the three usual geographic areas of work: Barcelona city, Barcelona region, and Destination Barcelona. Most of the results remain fairly stable compared to the previous year, although in some cases, significant changes have been observed.

 

Environmental impact of tourism activity

The average distance traveled by tourists from their place of origin to the destination (I01), which serves as an estimate of tourism’s contribution to the carbon footprint, increased once again, especially in Barcelona city, where it rose from 3,850 km to 4,060 km. Despite this increase, driven by the growth of international tourism, particularly intercontinental travel, the percentage of tourists arriving via sustainable collective vehicles (I09)—such as ferries, boats, trams, metro, trains, buses, and coaches—grew significantly in the city, reaching 14.56% (+1.71 pp change from 2023 to 2024). As a result, energy efficiency in terms of mobility to the destination improved. In Barcelona region, where domestic tourism is more prevalent, both the average distance traveled and the use of sustainable transport also increased, although without such marked year-over-year differences.

Regarding internal transport within the destination municipality, the proportion of tourists who moved actively (I10)—on foot, by bicycle, scooter, etc.—increased significantly in Barcelona city (45.66%, +5.91 pp change from 2023 to 2024). Due to the larger distances in the city, this proportion was lower than in the municipalities of Barcelona region, where it remained quite steady year-on-year (66.99%). In contrast, the use of public transport as internal transportation (I11), while still more significant in Barcelona city (34.66%) than in Barcelona region (8.79%), declined in the city (-5.67 pp Var. 24/23) and remained stable in the region.

What did show a notable increase was the percentage of tourism businesses and destinations commited or certified in sustainability (I12) across all geographic areas analyzed. In 2024, this rose to 3 out of 10 organitzations in Barcelona city, and 4 out of 10, in Barcelona region.

 

Impact of Tourism Activity on the Economy and the Labor Market

As for the indicators that measure the economic impact of tourism activity, it is worth highlighting the average expenditure per tourist per day during their stay (I15), which increased in Barcelona city to nearly €100 per person per night (+8.7% Var. 24/23), and in Barcelona region to almost €50 per person per night (+12.5% Var. 24/23). It is important to contextualize these increases within a setting of strong inflation growth, as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the province of Barcelona rose by +2.9% in 2024.

The indicator calculating revenue from the tourist accommodation tax per resident (I16) also continued to grow. In Barcelona city, €29.66 was collected per resident (+2.4% Var. 24/23), while in Barcelona region the amount was €2.99 per person (+9.37% Var. 24/23).

In terms of employment, 11.74% of people working in Destination Barcelona area were employed in tourism-related activities, a proportion (I17) that remained fairly stable compared to the previous year. In terms of gender equality, according to 2023 data (latest available), the gender pay gap (I23) remained below 1 across the Destination, indicating that, on average, women continued to receive lower gross salaries than men in the tourism activities. Specifically, for every euro earned by men, women earned €0.79—an improvement of 4 cents over the previous year. This shows a reduction in the gap, although the indicator is still far from the ideal value (=1).

Lastly, in the economic dimension, some indicators either stagnated or evolved negatively. First, the seasonality indicator (I14), which can impact both job quality and the social cost of tourism in the destination. This indicator is calculated with the ratio between the highest and lowest number of monthly overnight stays. While it remained stable in the city of Barcelona, it increased in Barcelona region, rising from 5.96 to 6.22.

Secondly, the wage ratio between the tourism acivity and other activities (I18) remained unchanged or worsened, particularly in Barcelona city in 2023 (latest available data), dropping from 0.76 to 0.74.

Thirdly, the average length of stay (I19) stabilized at 3.82 nights across the Destination. It is worth noting that if this indicator increases, so does the potential to decentralize and diversify the tourism offer, as well as to increase average spending, allowing the benefits of tourism to reach more stakeholders and helping to highlight a broader range of cultural resources in the destination.

 

Effects on the Community and Public Management of Tourism Activity

Once again, attention must be drawn to the negative evolution of public opinion indicators, which are crucial for understanding the level of tolerance or rejection of tourism by local residents. In this regard, the two indicators included in the SITS-OTB that assess this issue worsened compared to the previous year. In Barcelona city, the percentage of residents who considered tourism to be rather beneficial for their municipality (I25) dropped to 59.60% (-11.2 Var. 24/23). Likewise, the proportion of those who believed that the city is reaching its capacity to host more tourists (I26) rose significantly, reaching 74.40% (+12.9pp Var. 24/23). A similar trend was observed in Barcelona region, where this indicator reached a result of 38.80% (+10.50pp Var. 24/23). All of this occurred in a year marked by several anti-tourism protests around the world—particularly in Europe—where tourism is increasingly perceived as a key contributor to problems such as rising housing prices and gentrification.

That said, the tourism pressure indicator (I21) remained relatively stable in 2024. In Barcelona region, there were 2.65 tourists per 100 residents (+0.16 tourists Var. 24/23), and in the city of Barcelona—which typically has a higher ratio—the number actually decreased slightly to 9.51 tourists per 100 residents (-0.62 tourists Var. 24/23).

In terms of public administration, Destination Barcelona continued to operate under active sustainable tourism plans and strategies (I13). On the other side, the Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Regional Council, with the support of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Consortium Turisme de Barcelona, and the regional tourism boards of the province, launched the Commitment to Sustainable Tourism Destination Barcelona. Companies, services, and tourism destinations across the region that meet a series of requirements can join the program, which is based on the methodology of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

Regarding public tourism governance, all the aforementioned institutions once again complied 100% of the United Nations’ principles of good governance (I22): participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, and strategic vision.

 

Tourist Satisfaction

Tourist satisfaction, measured by the overall rating of the municipality where visitors stayed (I27), remained stable, with a score of 8.60 out of 10.

As for the destination accessibility indicator (I13), the SITS-OTB also assesses it through tourist opinions on accessibility for people with reduced mobility. The score for 2023 remained fairly steady at 7.86 out of 10.

What did improve notably was tourists’ perception of noise levels (I02), with an average rating of 7.26 across the municipalities of the Destination. While this result still leaves room for improvement, it’s important to note that a higher score in this area contributes not only to lower atmospheric and/or noise pollution but also to a better public health.

 

Public Safety

In terms of safety, the various indicators analyzed remained stable compared to the previous year.: across the Destination, tourists rated citizen safety (I28) at 8.16 out of 10, the percentage of tourists who were victims of a crime or attempted crime (I29) stayed below 2%, and the counterterrorism alert level in Spain (I30) remained at 4 out of 5.

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* Without new available data: I05, I06, and I24

More information: SITS-OTB results