Positive signs of recovery in the hotel industry in Destination Barcelona in summer 2022

The Hotel Networks and the Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona publish a report on the performance of the hotel direct channel in Destination Barcelona for this summer, based on data extracted from Benchdirect, the direct channel for hotel bookings platform. This collaborative project is based on the use of artificial intelligence systems to carry out real-time analysis of the direct channel and provide trend forecasts.

The report includes several indicators on searches and bookings made for the period July-September 2022, such as the origin of bookings, direct occupancy rates, lead times, the average length of stay, and hotel rates. The data is presented disaggregated by bookings in 1-3 star and 4-5 star hotels and by the three usual OTB geographical areas of work: Barcelona city, Barcelona region, and Destination Barcelona.

Main results and conclusions:

• Positive signs of recovery in the hotel industry in Destination Barcelona have been observed.
• One out of every five bookings in the destination comes from the domestic market, while the main international markets are the American, the French, the British, the Italian, and the Canadian. In Barcelona region, domestic bookings are higher than in Barcelona city.
• The occupancy rate is expected to be high throughout the summer, although in July and September it will be higher than in August.
• The length of stay will be between 3.5 and 3.8 nights. Bookings in lower category hotels are shorter than in higher category hotels in Barcelona city, while in Barcelona region, they are longer.
• The lead time is close to 60 days in Barcelona city and 55 days in Barcelona region.
• The ADR is higher in Barcelona city than in Barcelona region: in higher category hotels (4-5 stars) of Barcelona city, prices are +42.4% higher than in Barcelona region, while in lower categories (1-3 stars), prices are +60.8% higher.

Finally, the document includes other metrics related to the profitability of the hotel’s direct booking channel such as the most used devices when booking, the web conversion rate or price disparities with online travel agencies, and also a list of opportunities to increase sales through the direct channel.

This report complements the Destination Barcelona Tourism Forecast report published every two weeks in OTB Live, the latest sections of which (3.3 and 3.4) analyse the origin and volume of hotel bookings by date of booking and by date of stay, as well as the booking lead times evolution.

Read more: Hotel direct channel performance report – Summer 2022 forecast