Turisme de Barcelona will change the city's tourism promotion model with the aim of avoiding overcrowding and the problems that an excess of visitors entails for citizens. The idea is to set limits on tourism growth by opting for a new strategy that prioritizes quality over quantity and is based on promoting the city's products or singularities and not the destination in generic terms. This was announced this Monday by the new general director of Turisme de Barcelona, Mateu Hernández, at the entity's annual convention, which brought together nearly 700 professionals from the sector at the Gran Meliá Torre Melina hotel.
"We will stop promoting Barcelona in generic terms. We will move from destination promotion to product promotion, that is, of everything that makes the city unique and makes us unique, such as museums, fairs, music festivals, architecture, cultural exhibitions, or our bars and restaurants," explained Hernández.
According to the executive, when he was hired by the public-private consortium, he received a clear mandate: "improve the quality of tourism." To achieve this, the key lies in intelligent promotion based on the city's great attributes and projects and in "being able to choose tourists," that is, in opting for a selective promotion model that prioritizes the quality of the visitor. "We have set ourselves the purpose that those tourists we want to come to Barcelona come, that is, those we choose," Hernández emphasized, after pointing out that another priority must be sustainability.
This new strategy is totally aligned with the Barcelona City Council's objective of "avoiding the negative consequences of tourist overcrowding," as stated during the opening of the convention by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. "Barcelona has the instruments to modulate the tourist offer and to attract the visitors that interest us most. We must favor everything that attracts the best tourism, respects the destination, and appreciates our way of life," Collboni pointed out, after admitting that tourist overcrowding "is a risk with a name and surname" that must be combated.
Along the same lines, the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, has defended the use of public instruments to "modulate and limit" supply when necessary. "This will contribute to more equality and well-being quotas," he guaranteed. For his part, the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Jordi Valls, warned that tourist demand "is unstoppable," so tourist success can no longer be measured by quantitative indicators, but by qualitative parameters that promote "a correct balance between visitors and citizens." "If its citizens are not comfortable, Barcelona loses tourist appeal. It is impossible to offer a good experience if locals do not feel good. This is the great challenge we must address," Valls reflected. The councilor has shown himself to be in favor of the "massive incorporation of technology and data management" to manage tourist flows and promote balance.
Mateu Hernández: "We have set ourselves the purpose of having those tourists come to Barcelona that we want to come, that is, those we choose"For the president ofTurismefrom Barcelona,Jordi Clos, "it is better to have to manage success than a crisis", although he admitted that managing this success, the result of a public-private collaboration model that was conceived thirty years ago, "is not an easy challenge"."Barcelona is a city brand that makes us very attractive in the world and that is admired and a reference", has saidClos, after recalling that the tourism boom "has allowed the development of strategic sectors such ashubsdigitales, las ciencias de la vida, el emprendimiento, la tecnología y las industrias culturales".
"El turismo favorece a todos los sectores", ha abundado el presidente de la Cambra de Comerç, Josep Santacreu, tras recordar que la conectividad internacional del Aeropuerto de Barcelona es clave para la atracción de talento. Santacreu ha puesto el énfasis en la sostenibilidad, por lo que ha pedido al sector que trabaje para que "Barcelona sea reconocida como el destino más sostenible de Europa".
El nuevo modelo de promoción de Turisme de Barcelona apostará también por la recomendación y la prescripción de experiencias que sean únicas para el visitante apoyándose en herramientas tecnológicas como la inteligencia artificial. "Queremos poder comisariar y recomendar qué hacer en Barcelona, con ayuda de los fondos Next Generation", ha dicho Hernández. Además, el consorcio se volcará en potenciar el turismo de negocios compitiendo activamente por atraer las principales ferias, congresos y acontecimientos destacados que se celebran en el mundo, como la Copa del América.
Otro gran reto de la nueva fase que inicia Turisme de Barcelona pasa por lograr "incrementar el orgullo de ciudad" y convencer a los vecinos de las virtudes que aporta el sector turístico, que es el principal motor económico. "El turismo es un sector mágico, que asegura que Barcelona pese en el mundo mucho más de lo que es. Debemos estar orgullosos del turismo y de nuestra ciudad", ha destacado el director general, que ha reconocido la importancia de poner límites y de regular para lograr desmasificar, descentralizar, desestacionalizar e incrementar el civismo. Entre estos límites ha mencionado el tope de 150.000 camas ---"no se prevé que haya más"---, el control de los grupos que pasean por Ciutat Vella o que se haya acotado el número de terminales de cruceros.
"Tourism not only generates public revenue through taxes, but is a driving force for the entire knowledge economy," added Hernández, after citing as an example that the international connectivity Barcelona has thanks to tourism has been key to attracting AstraZeneca's global research hub to the city. Another example he mentioned is the city's good cultural and exhibition offerings, partly sustained by the sale of thousands of tickets to the tourists who visit us.
Turisme de Barcelona is working on the launch of a new web platform (Visit Barcelona) and is also finalizing the activation of a new advertising campaign with the slogan Barcelona, hostess by nature. The director of Turisme de Barcelona also announced that the entity has launched three new products on the market for the America's Cup aimed at visitors who will come to the city to enjoy the competition. These are the America's Cup 360º Card (199 euros); the Premium Card America's Cup ---aimed at sponsors and VIP visitors--- and the Barcelona Best Experience program, which will be extended to other events if successful.
Jordi Clos: "Tourism has allowed the development of strategic sectors such as digital hubs, life sciences, entrepreneurship, technology and cultural industries"During his participation in the convention, which was titled What's Next,the director of theFoundation CatalunyaLa Pedrera, Marta Lacambra, has claimed "greater confidence" in the private sectorby the Administrations and has highlighted "the very high social impact" that the foundation has in Barcelona thanks to the income generated from ticket sales to La Pedrera. The director of the CCCB,Judit Carrera, has also called for greater interrelation between the tourism and cultural sectors and "greater confidence" in the role that the world of culture can play in this sector. "Culture is the only thing that makes us unique in the world", he warned, after reiterating the need to "work more closely".
For the president of Barcelona Global, Maite Barrera, tourism "must be a win win", that is, it must help the city "be better" and not make Barcelonans unhappy. "We need to bet on quality talent and tourism that favor balance," Barrera considered, after emphasizing that Barcelona "is a city that surprises and captivates the world" due to its antifragile character. "Barcelona is more than resilient, it is a city that emerges stronger from the most adverse situations and has proven it," she asserted. In her opinion, this "antifragile Barcelona" is also a consequence of the involvement of civil society and the "public-private co-responsibility" exercised through consortia such as Turisme de Barcelona or associations like the one she presides.
The president of Fira de Barcelona, Pau Relat, also highlighted the value of public-private collaboration and institutional consensus, and also called for "more trust in the private sector" to be able to redistribute wealth and reduce inequalities. "We have to prevent success from making us lose some of our competitive advantages," said Relat, who believes that Barcelona "has unbeatable assets" that must be preserved and continuously improved. Furthermore, he stressed that business tourism spends three times more in the city than leisure tourism and that, in addition to contributing to deseasonalization, it translates into new investments by the companies of the executives who have visited Barcelona.