The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 08/04/2022. This report highlights the effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector.

Current Covid-19 restrictions in Catalonia

In Catalonia:

• Catering services: 100% capacity. A distance of 1.5m between tables must be kept. Dance activities are allowed with facemask. 
• Shops: 100% capacity. 
• Concerts, cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, circus tents, and similar spaces: 100% capacity. Activities with standing attendants and dance activities are allowed with facemask.
• Sports: 100% capacity. Sectors of 10,000 people outoors and 5,000 indoors must be established.
• Trade fairs, conventions, and congresses: allowed at 100% capacity.
• Nightlife: 100% capacity. Covid certificates are not required.
• Use of facemask: mandatory both in public use places or open to the public places, both indoors and outdoors. Since 20/04/22 this obligation will be removed except in hospitals, public transport, and nursing homes.
• Ventilation and crowds control: any activity must be carried out guaranteeing a good ventilation and organizational measures to control crowds.

Source markets

The EU Digital COVID certificate is operational. In Spain, the entrance of passengers from EU countries (or zones) with risk is allowed if one of the following is presented:

1. Vaccination certificate

2. Diagnosis certificate

3. Recovery certificate

The rest of EU passengers, as well as no risk intercontinental countries passengers and are accepted without any certificate. 

On the other hand, passatgers who travel for non-essential reasons from risk intercontinental countries with a vaccination or a recovery certificate are also accepted.

Transportation offer

The forecasts show an increase in the number of seats operated worldwide through the next weeks, altough below prepandemic levels. By the end of May it is expected to reach 100 million weekly seats. However, it should be reminded that airlines continue to readjust their flight schedules week after week. In Spain, during last week, the air capacity stood at only -3.6% compared to the same week in 2019. At Barcelona Airport, 161 routes, 28 of them intercontinental, are currently operating.

During the following week, 19 cruise ships are leaving or making a stopover at Barcelona Port. In April about 83 cruises will operate in the city, which will mean the start of the peak season. In May and in October, the maximum number of boats will be registered.

Tourist offer and professional events

By the end of March 2022, 338 hotels and 65,353  bed supplies were open in Barcelona city. As for the culture offer, 95.5% of the 89 monitored cultural facilities in Barcelona city are working.

There are currently 167 congresses confirmed for the upcoming years, 137 in 2022. In the meanwhile, about 100 applications are open until 2027.

Tourist demand

Over the last week, Google searches from Spain for both Barcelona city and Destination Barcelona increased. Most of the searches for both geographical areas kept coming from Catalonia.

From 23/03/22 to 29/03/22, the Barcelona flights and accommodation searches achieved their best positioning in Spain, France, and Italy. Destination Barcelona ranked 6th in searches of accommodation and 7th in searches of flights in the ranking of international destinations worldwide.

Finally, from 27/03/22 to 02/04/22, hotel reservations in Barcelona city stood, on average, at 83.4% compared to the series peak, which was in February 2022. These levels were lower than those of the previous week (85.1%) and the lead time stood at 33 days. In the Barcelona region, bookings were made 34 days in advance and stood at 84.1% compared to series peak, which was (February 2022), higher than those of the previous week, at 80.4%. Concerning their origin, international bookings exceeded domestic ones in both Barcelona city (73.0%) and Barcelona region (54.1%).

Destination Barcelona tourism forecast (08/04/2022)