The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region, presents the analysis of the monthly tourism activity monitoring indicators. A brief summary of the most relevant results of January is offered below:

Barcelona city

• Hotels and guesthouses supply accounted for 640 establishments and almost 84,000 available beds, which means almost the same offer level than in the previous month (-0.2%).

• Tourists in hotels, guesthouses and homes for tourist use decreased month-on-month, due to the natural seasonality of tourism activity. However, both the number of tourists and overnight stays increased MoM (+9.7% and +7.9%, respectively). Homes for tourist use recorded the highest length of stay (3.9 nights) once again, while hotels and guesthouses, 2.5 nights. On the other hand, the bed occupancy rate stood near 50.0% in both, homes for tourist use and hotel establishments.

• At Barcelona Airport, fewer people travelled in January than in the previous month, but the figures remained above the previous year. The ranking of countries from which passengers flew to Barcelona Airport in January was leaded by domestic flight passengers. Passengers flying from Italy ranked second, followed by passengers travelling from the United Kingdom, and France.

• At Barcelona Port, cruise passengers also decreased compared to December, but they were almost 20% higher than in January 2023. In contrast, ferry passengers, which also fell month-on-month, remained fairly stable year-on-year.

• Spanish tourists were again on the top position of the ranking of those who stayed in hotel establishments of the city (22.9%). French tourists ranked the first place of international tourists followed by the Italians, the Americans, and the British.

• The typical tourist in Barcelona city in January¹ has been a 33-year-old person, travelling for leisure (74.8%) and as a couple (36.8%). The average expenditure during the stay in the city stood at 75.3€ per person per day (+6.4% MoM). This was mainly spent on food and drink (47.2%), culture and entertainment (21.2%), and shopping for clothing, footwear and other personal effects (17.0%).

• Registered unemployment in the tourism activities remained slightly ahead of last year (+3.6%) and indefinite employment meant more than half of the new hiring (53.4%).
  
   

Barcelona region

• Hotels, guesthouses, rural tourism establishments, and campsites accounted for 914 available establishments and about 44,000 operational bedplaces, which means a reduction of around 4,000 bedplaces in one month. However, the number of beds in these types of establishments was very similar to January 2023 (-0.2%).

• Despite the month-on-month reduction in demand due to the seasonal nature of the activity, the number of tourists in these types of accommodation increased compared to January 2023 (+3.5%), and the average stay, at 2.4 nights, increased slightly, with overnight stays experiencing slightly higher growth (+4.0% Var. Jan24/Jan23).

• By type of establishment, campsites gained the most overnight stays in relative terms (+56.7% Var. Jan24/Jan23) and recorded a higher average stay (4.2 nights), while hotel establishments grew by +3.2% (Var. Jan24/Jan23) and had an average stay of 2.4 nights. Finally, rural tourism establishments, with an average stay of 2.0 nights, decreased in overnight stays oce again (-8.9% Var. Jan24/Jan23).

• Just over half of the tourists in Barcelona region's hotel establishments were domestic tourists, so their proportion remained fairly stable in comparison to the previous month.

• The typical tourist in Barcelona region in January¹ was a 45-year-old person, who travelled for leisure (41.7%) and who travelled as a couple (36.3%). Their average expenditure during their stay decreased over 10€ month-on-month, up to €46.7 per person per day, which were mainly spent on food and drink (64.4%) and shopping for clothing, footwear and other personal effects (17.6%).

• Unemployment in tourism remained slightly below the same period last year (-0.3%) and permanent contracts outnumbered temporary ones once again (63.6% vs. 36.4%).

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¹ For more information on the profile and habits of tourists during this summer in Destination Barcelona, please click on the following link. 

Consult the interactive report: