The spending of tourists during their stay increased by 24.7% year-on-year in November in Destination Barcelona

The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region, presents the analysis of the main monthly tourism activity monitoring indicators.

The main conclusions of the October update are presented below by geographical area:

Barcelona city

• Hotels and guesthouses accounted for 672 establishments and more than 86,500 operational beds, slightly below October, but above the previous year (+2.4% Var. 24/23 in beds).
• Demand in hotels, guesthouses, and tourist accommodation (HTUs) decreased compared to the previous month, both in terms of tourists and overnight stays, due to seasonality. If compared year-on-year, the number of tourists increased (+7.5% Var. 24/23), but a slight reduction in the average length of stay (from 2.9 nights in 2023 to 2.7 in 2024) meant that the number of overnight stays remained stable (+0.1% Var. 24/23).
• By type of establishment, the average length of stay was 2.4 nights in hotel establishments and 3.2 in HTUs, both lower than the previous month. Hotel occupancy was 61.1% (-2.4 pp Var. 24/23), while occupancy in HTUs was 52.2% (-1.0 percentage points Var. 24/23).
• At Barcelona Airport, there were 4.0 million passenger movements, which meant a year-on-year increase of +5.7%. The top countries of origin for passengers flying into Barcelona were, in this order, Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany, and France.
• At the Port of Barcelona, cruise passenger movements, 294,000, declined not only month-on-month but year-on-year (-1.9% Var. 24/23), along with a decrease in the cruise ship supply (-1.7% Var. 24/23). Similarly, due to tourist seasonality, ferry passenger movements were lower than the previous month. In total, nearly 73,000 passengers were recorded, which represents a year-on-year increase of +2.6%.
• At the ICUB cultural facilities, seasonality was also evident, with fewer visitors than the previous month (-31.4%), and a negative year-on-year variation (-19.9% Var. 24/23). Two-thirds of visitors were international, yet they experienced the most significant decrease (-39.4% Var. 24/23).
• Regarding the origin of tourists, in hotel establishments, the proportion of international tourists was 78.4%, -19.6% month-on-month. The largest group of tourists in this type of establishment were residents of Spain (21.6% share), followed by those from the United States (12.4%) and France (6.4%).
• The typical tourist in the city of Barcelona¹ during this month was a 38-year-old person who traveled either as a couple (29.9%) or solo (29.5%). Those traveling for professional reasons accounted for 50.0% of the total, experiencing an increase of more than +33 percentage points compared to the previous month.
• The average expenditure during the stay in the city increased slightly compared to the previous month, reaching €111.1 per person per day, likely due to the increase in professional tourists, and year-on-year (+33.2% Var. 24/23).
• Expenditure during the stay in the city was mainly allocated to food and drink (48.4%), followed by 18.4% spent on clothing, footwear, and other purchases, and 16.3% on internal transport.
• Bank card spending on tourist services in Barcelona’s shops increased by more than +9% year-on-year in November. International spending accounted for 21.1% of the total card spending. Among all the categories analyzed, the restaurant services category registered the highest expenditure.
• Regarding the job market, in November, new hiring in the core activity decreased. However, permanent contracts in the city outnumbered temporary contracts (55.5% vs 44.5%). On the other hand, tourism unemployment was slightly higher than the same period in 2023 (+0.8% Var. 24/23).

Barcelona region

• The operational supply of tourist accommodation in the region decreased compared to October due to tourist seasonality, but it was +2.9% higher than in November 2023, with a total of 970 establishments and over 52,400 operational beds, including hotels, campsites, and rural tourism.
• Tourist demand decreased month-on-month, both in the number of tourists and in overnight stays. However, when looking at the data on a year-over-year basis, both the number of tourists (+9.1% Var. 24/23) and overnight stays (+20.9% Var. 24/23) increased.
• There was also a rise in the average length of stay (from 1.9 nights in 2023 to 2.1 nights in 2024). By type of accommodation, campsites again had the longest stays (3.1 nights), followed by hotel establishments (2.0 nights) and rural tourism accommodations (2.0 nights). In terms of occupancy, campsites registered 42.6% occupancy in beds, and rural tourism establishments, 17.7%, which represents a slight year-on-year decrease in the first case (-1.8 pp Var. 24/23) and an increase in the latter (+3.3 pp Var. 24/23).
• 51.5% of tourists in hotel establishments in Barcelona region were international, a significantly lower proportion compared to the previous month (-11.8 pp).
• The typical tourist in the Barcelona region during this month¹ was a person aged 45, who traveled for leisure (47.1%) and as a couple (46.6%). The average expenditure during the stay, €46.1 per person per day, also increased month-over-month and year-on-year (+19.1% Var. 24/23). Taking into account the increase in Barcelona city, the average increase of this expense in Destination Barcelona as a whole was +24.7% year-on-year.
• Expenditure during the stay in Barcelona region was mainly spent on food and drink (68.6%) and on clothing, footwear, and other purchases (15.7%).
• Both permanent and temporary hiring in the tourism activity in Barcelona region decreased month-on-month, although permanent contracts still outnumbered temporary ones (60.9% vs. 39.1%). Finally, registered unemployment decreased by -1.8% year-on-year.

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¹ For more information on the profile and habits of tourists during November in Destination Barcelona, please click on the following link.

More information:

Summary of tourism activity in Destination Barcelona – November 2024

Tourism activity interactive report