United States and Spain lead hotel bookings for stays in Summer in Destination Barcelona and overcome last year’s.

The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region publishes the outbound markets report for the third quarter of 2023. Summer holidays in the main source markets will distribute the arrival of tourists to Destination Barcelona.

As a novelty, this edition includes a comparison of the level of hotel bookings made until now for the upcoming months compared to the equivalent and total bookings for the same periods in 2022.

The main conclusions of the report, by source market, are detailed below.

 

Germany

• The German cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport keep being Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin.
• During the second quarter of 2023, there will be school holidays from 24/07 to 03/09.
• The region showing the greatest interest in Barcelona city over the last 90 days was Brandenburg. The most popular search terms kept being the weather and Sagrada Familia. A high level for “beaches” has also been registered. 
• The Destination ranked 12^th in internet searches for accommodation and 4^th for flights in the ranking of international destinations. This last positioning has improved compared to the last inbound markets report.
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from Germany is similar to the same period in 2022 for both, Barcelona city and Barcelona region. Bookings for August stand out.
• Germans have booked, for these dates, an average of more than 3 months in advance. Stays will be around 4 nights (which means an increase on the second quarter), and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent.
• The level of hotel bookings in Barcelona city and Barcelona region is below the average of bookings for other international European destinations (excluding Berlin).

   

Spain

• The Spanish cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport are Palma de Mallorca, Madrid and Ibiza.
• During the second quarter of 2023, school holidays will be in July, August, and until 06/09.
• The region that has shown the greatest interest in Destination Barcelona over the last 90 days has been Catalonia. The most popular search terms were Sagrada Familia, the weather, Tibidabo, the beaches, Castelldefels, and Garraf destinations.
• During the same period of analysis, the Destination ranked 2^nd in internet searches for both accommodation and flights, within the ranking of national and international destinations.
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from Spain is, not only ahead of the same period of 2022 in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region, but, as shown in the last Forecast of Tourism activity report, it stands as the second in volume for stays this Summer. 
• Spaniards have booked, for these dates, an average of more than 3 months in advance. Stays will be around 3 nights long, which means an increase on the second quarter. Travelling as a couple will be also the most frequent.
• The level of hotel bookings is above the average of bookings for other destinations analysed, yet behind those of Madrid.

   

United States

• The US cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport keep being New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.
• During the second quarter of 2023, school holidays will be in July, August, and until 06/09.
• The region showing the most interest in Barcelona city over the last 90 days was Columbia, while in Destination Barcelona, Colorado. The most popular search terms were Barcelona, Spain, and Sagrada Familia.
• During the same period of analysis, the Destination ranked 7^th in internet searches for accommodation (+4 positions than in the last report) and 19^th for flights in the ranking of international destinations (+2 positions). It should be borne in mind that many Americans arrive in Destination Barcelona from other European cities.
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from the United States is ahead of the same period of 2022 for both Barcelona city, and Barcelona region. Actually, and as it also shown in the last Forecast of Tourism activity report, this is the market with the most bookings for the Summer at the moment.. 
• Americans have booked particularly far in advance for these dates, with an average of more than 100 days before the stay. Stays will longer than 3,5 nights, slightly above than in the second quarter, and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent. 
• Hotel bookings for Barcelona city are above the average for other international European destinations, while for Barcelona region, they remain well below the average.

 

France

• The French cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport are Paris, Nice, and Nantes.
• During the third quarter of 2023, school holidays will be from 08/07 to 01/09.
• The region showing the greatest interest in Barcelona city over the last 90 days was Corsica, while in Destination Barcelona, it was Champagne-Ardenne region. The most popular search terms were Sagrada Familia and weather.
• During the same period of analysis, the destination ranked 2^nd in internet searches for accommodation and 3^rd for flights in the ranking of international destinations, so that its positioning has improved significantly.
• The level of hotel bookings for Barcelona city for the third quarter of 2023 from France is lower than the same period in 2022.
• The French have booked for these dates an average of more than 100 days in advance. Stays will be around 4 nights (slighty over last year’s) and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent in Barcelona city, while solo travelling, in Barcelona region.
• The level of hotel bookings for both Barcelona city and Barcelona region is over the average of bookings for other international European destinations (excluding Paris).

 

Italy

• The Italian cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport keep being Rome, Milan, and Venice.
• During the third quarter of 2023, school holidays will be in July, August, and until 10/09.
• The region showing the greatest interest in Barcelona city over the last 90 days was Aosta Valley, while in Destination Barcelona it was the Liguria region. The most popular search term has been ” the sea“, followed by Sagrada Familia, and the beaches.
• During the same period of analysis, the destination ranked 2^nd in internet searches for both, accommodation and flights in the ranking of international destinations, achieving a better positioning in each of the categories analysed since the last source market report.
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from Italy is above the same period in 2022 in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region, where bookings for July are almost overcoming the final bookings made for the same period last year.
• Italians have booked, for these dates, an average of more than 100 days in advance. Stays will be higher than 3.8 nights long and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent in Barcelona city, while in Barcelona region, as a solo.
• The level of hotel bookings for both geographical areas is above the bookings average for other international European destinations (excluding Rome).

 

United Kingdom

• The British cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport are London, Manchester, and Bristol.
• During the third quarter of 2023, school holidays will be from 24/07 to 31/08.
• The region showing the most interest in Destination Barcelona over the last 90 days has been Scotland. The most popular search terms were weather, “Things to do in Barcelona” and Sagrada Familia.
• During the same period of analysis, the destination has climbed to the 8^th in internet searches for accommodation and it has maintained the 7^th for flights in the ranking of international destinations.
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from the United Kingdom is higher than that of the same period of 2022, while in Barcelona region, lower.
• The British have booked close to 120 days in advance. Stays will be around 4 nights long and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent.
• The level of hotel bookings in both, Barcelona city and Barcelona region, is slightly above the average for bookings to other international European destinations (excluding London).

 

The Netherlands

• The Dutch cities with the highest volume of air passengers from/to Barcelona Airport keep being Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Rotterdam.
• During the first quarter of 2023, there will be school holidays from 10/07 to 20/08.
• The region showing the most interest in Destination Barcelona over the last 90 days was Zealand. The most popular search terms were the weather, Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and “places of interest”.
• The destination has climbed 5 positions, up to the 5^th , in internet searches for accommodation in the ranking of international destinations, while for flights, it has remained the 2nd. 
• The level of hotel bookings for the third quarter of 2023 from the Netherlands is higher to 2022 in both Barcelona city and Barcelona region. Bookings for July in Barcelona region stand out and they almost overcome the final bookings made for the same period last year.
• The Dutch have booked, for these dates, an average of more than 110 days in advance. Stays will be longer than 3.8 nights on average and travelling as a couple will be the most frequent.
• The level of hotel bookings in Barcelona city is above the average for bookings to other international European destinations (excluding Amsterdam), while the level in Barcelona region is similar.
   

More infomation: Outbound Markets in Destination Barcelona 2023 – III