Fewer tourists, but more spending, more impact, and more overnight stays. Barcelona is already on its way to attracting tourists not so much in quantity but in quality. The volume of tourists has slowed down and stabilized in the Catalan capital this 2024, with 15.5 million visitors, but their spending in the city has continued to grow, almost reaching 100 euros per day.
Specifically, tourists spend an average of 99.71 euros per day in the city, which is 8.7% more than in 2023, and 21.12% more than in the last year before the pandemic, 2019, when the figure stood at 82.3 euros per day. According to Turismo de Barcelona, these figures are expected to translate into an impact exceeding 10,000 million euros, the highest figure in the historical series, which began in 2017.
The volume of visitors has slowed down this 2024 compared to last year but also compared to 2019. The 15.5 million people who have visited the Catalan capital this year represent 0.7% less than in 2023 ---when 15.6 million tourists arrived in the city---, and 4% less than in 2019, when there were 16.1 million.
Despite this reduction in visitors, overnight stays have also increased. In fact, the consortium estimates that they will grow by at least 3% this year, a figure that shows that tourists have made longer stays in the Catalan capital this 2024.
And not all types of tourists grow equally. Visitors from the United States are the ones who have grown the most compared to last year. In fact, Americans represent 14.7% of tourists who travel to the Catalan capital, only behind those from the rest of Spain, who are 16.3% of the total. The United Kingdom, France, and Italy follow them in the ranking, which also highlights visitors of Chinese origin: although they are 2.3% of the total, they have surpassed those who arrived in the city in 2019.
In addition, the satisfaction levels of tourists when visiting the city are reflected in the Turismo de Barcelona report, with scores ranging between 7.5 and 9 in culture, architecture, and gastronomy as the most valued elements. It is precisely in the cultural field that the city wants to focus to prioritize this quality tourist that the consortium wants to attract with its action plan for 2025.
These data confirm that progress is already being made in this direction. "This stabilization of the main indicators comes after years of promoting measures to govern tourism promoted by the City Council, which shows that Barcelona is a pioneer in tourism management and that these policies are yielding results," defended the mayor, Jaume Collboni, at the consortium's General Council.
In this context, the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Josep Santacreu, highlighted the strategy of attracting large congresses and conventions promoted by the Barcelona Convention Bureau, which will now focus on those that incentivize investment in the city. "This commitment is key to ensuring that tourist activity has a positive impact through congress tourism, which generates more spending and more added value," added Santacreu, at a general council that approved the consortium's budget for 2025. With 51.8 million euros, it will have 8% less than this year, although it still needs to incorporate contributions from the City Council in specific areas, such as participation in fairs like Fitur.
Of these 51.8 million, 46.1 comes from the market activity managed by the consortium, through the sale of products, membership fees, and the management of the Bus Turístic, among other activities. The budget includes "a significant reduction in general expenses and a commitment to projects such as the Barcelona Art Season, Barcelona Obertura, and the connection of congresses with attracting investment," as highlighted by the general director of Turisme de Barcelona, Mateu Hernández. All of this is framed within the consortium's new motto to appeal to quality tourists: This is Barcelona, as a reaffirmation of the city and a way to promote it that "must be linked to culture and to making tourism a lever for the transformation of Barcelona in terms of the knowledge economy."