The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona updates the Destination Barcelona tourism forecast report as of 17/09/2021. This report highlights the effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector.

Covid-19 situation

Covid-19 preventive measures continue despite the increasing number of worldwide vaccinations.

In Catalonia, from the 17/09 to the 23/09, the following measures affect the tourism sector:

• Restaurants and bars: 50% of capacity on the inside and 100% on the outside of the establishments. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Commerce: 70% of capacity on shops without surface limit
• Professional events: allowed at 70% of their capacity
• Culture: 70% of capacity in museums, exhibition centers, cinemas and concert halls until 23 h. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Nightlife: closed except totally outdoor venues. Opening time: until 12.30 am.
• Sports: public is allowed at 70% of capacity. In sports activities with a capacity of more than 10,000 people, 40% (outdoors) and 30% (indoors) is allowed.
• Amusement parks: 50% of capacity
  
   

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 are accepted without any certificate.

On the other hand, passengers traveling from intercontinental countries are also accepted as long as they present the vaccination certificate. 

Finally, the EU has eliminated the US and Israel as safe destinations against Covid-19.

Transportation offer

The global airlines capacity during 13/09 week has decreased by -30.8%, and in Spain, by -28.4% (var. 21/19), which means a decrease of almost 77,000 seats the capacity on the previous week.

The forecasts show an increase in the number of seats operated worldwide in September. However it must be reminded that airlines continue to readjust their flight schedules week after week.

During the following week,10 cruises ships are leaving or making a stopover at Barcelona Port.

Tourist offer and professional events

Beasides, 89.8% of the cultural facilities in Barcelona city are open and the maximum capacity in outdoor sports activities has been increased.

As for the professional events, it must be highlighted that there are 117 confirmed congresses for the upcoming years, 29 in 2021. Meanwhile, about 90 applications are open until 2027.

Tourist demand

Over the last week, Google searches from Spain for Barcelona city has kept stable, while those for Destination Barcelona have decreased. Most of the searches for both geographical areas keep coming from Catalonia.

The Barcelona flights and accommodation searches achieve their best positioning on the French, the Italian, the Spanish, and the Dutch markets, followed by United Kingdom. Destination Barcelona has ranked, 12th in searches of accommodation and 9th in searches of flights in the ranking of international destinations worldwide.

Finally, from 05/09 to 11/09, hotel reservations in Barcelona city has stood at 55.7% compared to the series peak (January 2020), which means a decrease compared to those made during the previous week, but an increase over the same period in 2020. In Barcelona region, the bookings have stood at 62.1% compared to the series peak (June 2021), also below the previous week, and at similar level to those of 2020. The lead time has been been 14 days in Barcelona city and 12 days in Barcelona region, which means an increase in Barcelona city and a decrease in Barcelona region compared to the previous week.

As for the origin of the bookings, in Barcelona city, international bookings (3 out of 5) are still above the national, while in Barcelona region, the national (53.8%) are higher than the international.

Destination Barcelona tourism forecast (17/09/2021)