The MICE sector resumes activity this September, with 22 congresses and 78.000 expected delegates

The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region publishes a new report on the Destination Barcelona tourism activity forecast for september.

Below are the main conclusions of this new edition of the report:

• Air capacity in Barcelona for September is estimated to be 6,0 million seats (+5,2% year-on-year). By the end of September, Shanghai will be connected through a new route operated by China Eastern, and by the end of October Air China will increase the frequency of their flights to the same destination.
• It is expected that during the month, 98 cruise ships will arrive to the Port of Barcelona, slightly above the same month in 2024.
• The cultural and leisure agenda will be marked by emblematic celebrations such as the National Day of Catalonia throughout the destination (11/09) and La Mercè in Barcelona (24/09). At the same time, the region will celebrate the grape harvest season with various popular festivals, among which the Penedès Grape Harvest Festival (01/09-30/09), the Alella Grape Harvest Festival (04/09-10/09), and the XVIII Grape Harvest Festival of Cubelles (05/09-06/09) stand out.
• The conference and fair calendar will reactivate in September with 22 congresses and nearly 78.000 delegates. The most notable events will be LABELEXPO EUROPE 2025 (30.000 attendees) and IAAPA EXPO EUROPE 2025 (20.000 attendees).
• In September, the source markets included in the report will return from the summer school holidays, but some countries like Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Singapore will enjoy holidays at the beginning of the month.
• In the past month, the most common Google searches for Barcelona have been slightly below the ones in the same period for 2024. The most popular searches in Barcelona city are still Sagrada Familia. It is also worth noting that searches for beaches have gained a lot of weight in the recent months. Among the rising searches, summer and sea-related topics such as beaches, coves, water parks and the fish market can be found.
• In the last months, Barcelona Destination has ranked 5^th in accommodation and 8^th in flights in the global online ranking, ahead of cities like Madrid, Rome and Tokyo. Currently, Barcelona’s position closely resembles that of New York for accommodation and Rome for flights.
• Hotel bookings in the past month have been led by the domestic market especially in Barcelona region, where they represent half of the total reservations. In Barcelona city the United States continues to lead the international market, whilst for Barcelona region it has been France. 2 out of 3 bookings have been couples’ trips.
• Currently, the level of reservations for the upcoming months are above those recorded last year for Barcelona destination, especially in September and October.
• Compared to other European destinations, Barcelona city will have a similar level of hotel bookings as Amsterdam. It will also be higher than Vienna, but lower than Madrid, Berlin and London. Barcelona region is significantly below the aforementioned.

More information: Tourism Activity Outlook Report for Destination Barcelona (2025-IX)