New all-time record at Barcelona Airport: 5 million passenger movements in an October month

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

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

Barcelona city

• Hotels and guesthouses supply accounted for 682 establishments and more than 87,000 available beds. This means almost the same number of beds compared to the previous month, but over the same month last year (+1.6% Var. 24/23).
• The number of tourists in hotels, guesthouses and homes for tourist use (HTUs) increased month-on-month, yet the overnight stays remained quite stable. However, if we compare year-on-year data, tourists remained at the same level as in October 2023 (+0.1% Var. 24/23), and a reduction in the average length of stay (from 2.9 nights in 2023 to 2.8 nights in 2024), caused the number of overnight stays to fall (-2.7% Var. 24/23).
• By type of accommodation, the average length of stay was 2.5 nights in hotel establishments and 3.4 nights in VUTs. On the other hand, occupancy in bedplaces in hotel establishments was 70.2% (-2.5pp Var. 24/23) and in HTUs, 56.2% (-2.2pp Var. 24/23).
• Barcelona Airport recorded 5.0 million passenger movements in October, which meant not only an increase of +8.2% over the same period in 2023, but also an all-time record for an October month at the airport. The ranking of countries from which passengers flew to Barcelona Airport was led by Spain, followed by Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
• In the Port of Barcelona, the movement of cruise passengers, 404,000, decreased, not only month-on-month, but also if compared to the same month last year (-13.9% Var. 24/23), although the supply of cruise ships was higher than in the previous month. As for ferries, the seasonal nature of tourism meant that the number of passenger movements in this type of transport was lower month-on-month. In total, almost 97,000 passengers were recorded, a year-on-year reduction of 6.6%.
• In terms of the origin of tourists, in hotel establishments, the proportion of international tourists was 83.5%. They were led by tourists resident in Spain (16.5% share), followed by those resident in the USA (15.5%) and the United Kingdom (6.7%).
• The typical tourist in the city of Barcelona¹ was a 38-year-old person, traveling for leisure (72.7%) and as a couple (39.1%).
• The average expenditure during the stay in the city decreased slightly month-on-month, to €103.2 per person per day, but experienced one of the highest year-on-year increases of the whole year, with a +17.9% year-on-year variation. This expenditure was mainly spent on food and drink (47.0%). It was followed by the entertainment, leisure and culture (20.5%) and clothing, footwear and other purchases (17.5%).
• Spending with bank cards on tourist services in Barcelona city stores was around +11% year-on-year. 26.3% of spending with a bank card in the city was international. Of all the categories analyzed, restaurant services recorded the highest spending.
• Regarding the job market, in October, new hiring in the core of tourism activity increased for the second consecutive month. Permanent contracts in the city again outnumbered temporary ones (57.7% vs. 42.3%) and registered unemployment in tourism activity was slightly above the same period of 2023 (+1.5% Var. 24/23).

Barcelona region

• The operational tourist accommodation supply in Barcelona region decreased month-on-moth, due to the seasonal nature of tourism, but was +0.6% higher than in September 2023, with a total of 1,073 establishments and around 79,000 operational bedplaces, including hotel establishments, campsites and rural tourism.
• Tourism demand decreased month-on-month, both in terms of the number of tourists and overnight stays. However, if data are analysed year-on-year, although the number of tourists decreased with respect to 2023 (-4.7% Var. 24/23), an increase in the average stay (from 2.7 nights in 2023 to 2.8 in 2024), led to a similar number of overnight stays to the previous year (+0.4% Var. 24/23). This was due to an increase in demand in hotel establishments and rural tourism (+1.9% and +7.7% Var. 24/23 in overnight stays, respectively), while in campsites, demand decreased (-9.3% Var. 24/23).
• Campsites remained the type of accommodation with the longest stay (3.7 nights), followed by hotel establishments (2.8 nights), and rural accommodation (2.0 nights).
• The typical tourist in Barcelona region during this month¹ was a person aged 46, travelling for leisure (50.6%) and as a couple (42.0%). The average expenditure during the stay, 45.7€ per person per day, also fell month-on-month, yet it increased by +12.3% year-on-year. This expenditure was mainly spent on food and beverages (64.0%) and purchases of clothing, footwear and others (15.1%).
• Both indefinite and temporary hiring in tourism activity in Barcelona region also increased month-on-month, and the indefinite also outnumbered the temporary contracts (59.3% vs 40.7%). The registered unemployment decreased by -1.3% month-on-month.

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

More information:

Summary of tourism activity in Destination Barcelona – October 2024

Tourism activity interactive report