barcelona tourism strategy

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Responsible and sustainable tourism

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The Barcelona Declaration is a list of pledges the city has made for responsible and sustainable tourism. It was presented to the International Conference on Sustainable Tourism for implementation under the framework of the New Urban Agenda (Barcelona, 2017).

Since 2011 Barcelona has had the Biosphere responsible tourism certificate in line with the international criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

This is a Turisme de Barcelona (tourist board) programme that brings together various companies offering products for tourists that suggest places to go and services that allow visitors to enjoy the city in a sustainable way.

Accessible places, adapted hotels and barrier-free transport. This is a tourist board initiative to help people with disabilities get all the information they need on what the city offers to help them enjoy their visit.

The Strategic Tourism Plan for 2020 makes destination Barcelona’s sustainability a priority and indispensable goal.

Barcelona has been ramping up its efforts to fight against illegal accommodation and has launched a website where local residents and visitors can verify their accommodation has a permit.

Close to Barcelona there is a host of options for you to enjoy your leisure time, the local culture and nature. A rich and diverse region located between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean sea, with over 100 kilometres of coastline and a stunning cultural heritage.

It's perfectly possible to enjoy the city without disturbing local residents' peace and quiet; everyone can get along together with mutual respect. The noise map shows noise levels by street section and is a tool to help check the city'sacoustic status.

Barcelona, a leader in sustainable tourism

Barcelona wants its residents and visitors to enjoy the many attractions that the city offers in a balanced way that respects the environment. So it promotes a model of tourism based on respect for the city's economic, social, environmental and cultural resources. As a result, and because it is always innovating, Barcelona has established itself as a tourist destination committed to sustainability, with responsibly managed tourism and a cross-cutting strategy which seeks to ensure it is a model that will endure well into the future.

Barcelona is...

Responsible.

For promoting tourism that shares environmental responsibility between visitors and residents, Barcelona has been accredited with Biosphere certification as a responsible tourist destination.

The cultural heritage, architecture and creativity of its artists make Barcelona an exceptional city.

Barcelona is a pioneering city in terms of its architectural adaptation of public spaces for everyone, as well as in proposing improvements for the elderly and people with reduced mobility.

Eco-friendly

Barcelona promotes green means of transport for both residents and visitors alike, including cycling, electric vehicles and public transport with low CO2 emissions.

Sustainable

A city with a top-quality model of tourism that fosters the potential of each and every one of its neighbourhoods.

A city open to everyone, with a wide range of possibilities for tourism related to social responsibility projects.

With a spirit of commitment to the environment, Barcelona believes in renewable energy, recycling and the implementation of measures to save both water and other resources.

The city's green spaces are one of its most attractive features. Montjuïc Park and Barcelona's green lung, the Collserola range, are examples of the perfect combination of nature and city.

Barcelona is within everyone’s reach

Flat and perfect for walking round, as well as being committed to easy accessiblity, Barcelona is a city that invites you to lose yourself in its streets and different neighbourhoods. On top of that, there are many eco-friendly ways of getting around and discovering the city.

The Bus Turístic (tourist bus) and Barcelona Walking Tours are a great way to enjoy sustainable tourism.

The city is also a pioneer in welcoming visitors with special needs.   Its urban transport network and public spaces are all adapted to this kind of visitor.

Innovative and eco-friendly tourism

Barcelona is a city made to be experienced from within: it allows visitors to mingle with its residents and enjoy its intense identity and artistic and cultural dynamism. It is a city that values and cares for its cultural and architectural heritage but which also opens it up to the people.

And Barcelona is also a clean city with Biosphere clean-city accreditation. It promotes separated waste management, low greenhouse gas emission transport, it is committed to renewable energy and takes care of its green spaces and beaches.

From museums adapted for blind people to visits in sign language,, Barcelona commitment to accessibility.

This is a building which has been renovated using bioconstruction material which promotes sustainability and environmental education of the general public.

This association brings together hotels and organisations in the Fòrum area that share values of social responsibility, environmental issues and cultural development.

This is an integrated travel card that helps visitors get around, using a single card for the different means of public transport.

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Improving and distributing tourism evenly with the Barcelona strategy

13/05/2022 14:55 h

The 21 projects outlined represent a range of actions with a broad geographical reach, focusing particularly on the Besòs, Collserola, the coastline and Montjuïc. Other cross-cutting action is also planned to evenly distribute tourism and prompt innovation in going digital, sustainability and mobility.

• Coastline: in line with the goal of the green and sustainable transition, action here is aimed at making beaches more natural, improving accessibility and safety and adapting them to climate change. The project to improve the beaches and the bathing area at the Fòrum entails an investment of 4 million euros.
• Collserola and Besòs: with an investment of 5,479,750 euros, the idea is to add vitality to the Parc Natural de Collserola and the riverbank of the Besòs through environmental recovery and the historical recovery of different tourist attractions.
• Montjuïc: with a budget of 10,315,000 euros, the plan here is to boost this large public park, improve accessibility and attract visitors linked to culture, sport and the natural environment.
• Sustainable mobility: action here is designed to integrate uses and tourist mobility into the city’s mobility model, with a budget of 8,492,320 euros to help fund three projects.
• New evenly distributed options: the goal is to add more tourism options with new points of competitive interest to help provide balance in a polycentric city. With a budget of 9,789,941 euros, up to six projects are planned in this sphere.
• Innovation: the five projects in this field have a combined budget of 10,466,001 euros. A series of actions are planned to comprehensively help the sector go digital, with a broader vision embracing the private and public ecosystem linked to the visitor economy. Action here will be implemented by the Barcelona Tourism Consortium.

Fifty million euros in investment

The call by the state plan for sustainability in tourist destinations is aimed at local organisations and entails funding of 1.9 billion euros between now and 2023. Of this amount, 194 million corresponds to Catalonia, with a maximum of 50 million euros available for Barcelona. As major urban destinations, the Catalan capital and Madrid are in a category of their own due to their singularity.

Once the strategy has been put forward for the call, it will be evaluated by the Secretary of State for Tourism and the Government of Catalonia.

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Barcelona's Strategy and Action

Barcelona’s strategy is based on two explicit and fundamental understandings, understandings which are not widely shared in other destinations. More

• Destinations have two dimensions. Destinations are built through image and narratives, they are virtual as well as territorial. The hopes and expectations of visitors are formed through images and narratives. The visits, activities and interactions with the place and people (residents and visitors) are experienced in particular places. Communication, promotion and management strategies need to be developed and managed in an integrated way.
• Successful destinations must be both competitive and sustainable, they have to feasible in time and space. “To ensure a destination’s success, maintain its uniqueness, add value to the whole value chain, guarantee and promote new experiences, and turn tourism into an innovative activity with added value, the commitments to sustainability and responsibility signed by the city need to be ratified and, most important of all, conveyed through bold, specific proposals for action.”

Barcelona is a city which takes sustainable tourism seriously. “Sustainability is no longer an option or brand attribute but rather an absolute commitment. The quality of tourist experiences depends on guaranteeing the well-being of the people who live in the city, ensuring a balance between the tourist city and the many other ways of experiencing it.”The Strategic Plan is based on five criteria:

“SUSTAINABILITY. The policies, programmes, economic activities and relationships between players that ensure the future well-being of destinations, without compromising the basic resources of the area or resident and visiting populations: environment, housing, public spaces, etc.

RESPONSIBILITY. The ethical individual and collective action framework that is committed to minimising the environmental and social impact while ensuring that economic activities do not occur at the expense of resident and visiting populations' rights.

REDISTRIBUTION. The public and private mechanisms that ensure a fair distribution of the wealth generated by economic activities, through revenue from work, taxation and the area's economic, social and business relations.

COHESION. Strengthening tourist activity links to the destination's players and population, as a means of implementing collective projects that look after the city, in all its complexity, as a common space and take into account the plurality of its voices and needs.

INNOVATION. The impetus behind new forms of economic and social management and organisation that create shared value and help to multiply and strengthen links between economic, social and cultural players for their mutual benefit.

Action Programmes:

• Governance: The municipal government recognises that there needs to be “public leadership of tourism management through coordination and participation with other players” in order to “ensure the city’s general interest.” This requires communication with a “plurality of voices” and using open participatory processes
• Knowledge: Barcelona recognises that data and shared knowledge is essential to managing tourism and to sharing it so as to inform a wide participatory debate. They have committed to “generating, sharing, spreading and transferring knowledge of tourist activity in destination Barcelona, to support the decision-making process, examine strategic issues and enrich public debate.
• Destination Barcelona: The objective is to build a triple bottom line sustainable destination which goes beyond the City limits and to develop a destination which “is dynamic, welcoming, open, innovative and desirable, which guarantees the quality of life of its citizens and a balanced territorial development, where the real city and its identity are the main attractions for visitors.” a. Marketing has to be turned into a management tool. b. Stop promoting neighbourhoods, rather highlight events, and “distinct itineraries and non-residential spaces as recipients of temporary activity. c. Expand and diversify the promotion of tourist attractions and products which meet sustainability criteria, ensure a social return and contribute to the local regeneration. d. Marketing the extended destination including the Province of Barcelona and its coast
• Mobility: Barcelona is addressing internal and external mobility to manage tourism flows. “Reasons for stays, seasonal variations, temporary visits, means of transport, the state of transport network infrastructures and the most popular itineraries are among the parameters that determine tourist uses of mobility in the city.
• Accommodation: Barcelona is aligning the various regulatory instruments which they have available to them. They are using planning regulations to control building and working with the internet intermediaries to encourage them to take responsibility and to comply with regulations to promote and “supply legal, quality accommodation.” Illegal tourist accommodation is now addressed by teams of inspectors working closely with the tax authorities. Residents and tourists alike can check online whether or not an accommodation is licensed and report it online or by phone. In May 2018 Barcelona secured access to all data from Airbnb adverts.145 Between July 2016 and July 2018, 2,355 tourism flats have been closed and a further 1,800 are in the process of being closed. A team of over 100 spotters and inspectors are continuing to check that flats which have been closed down don’t re-offend, to detect new cases and go after organised networks operating more than one property.
• Managing Spaces: The objective is to “reconcile tourist activities with ongoing, everyday life in the city.” The city is striving to reduce pressure on the most congested places and at the same time to “ensure universal accessibility”. Barcelona is developing district tourism management plans, plans for crowded places, working to reduce environmental impacts and implementing “policies to counteract pressure on the property market.
• Economic Development: Barcelona is seeking to “turn tourism into a lever for change, for economic development and social well-being” by “foster[ing] the greatest possible social return on tourist activities” and to do this by encouraging activities which through the creation of shared value contribute to the redistribution of economic benefits to improve the living conditions of city residents and workers.
• Communication and Reception: Barcelona is developing more diverse narratives to engage residents and visitors in the discovery of other realities and improving their experience of the city. Communication not only determines “visitors’ expectations at source but also potentially shape flows and practices at the destination.” Offering “visitors a broader range of possibilities than overcrowded icons, ” improving visitor reception and information services, “to improve their experience while reducing the pressure on over-visited spaces.
• Taxation and Funding: Barcelona is designing “new tax measures to achieve the right balance between the costs and economic gains of tourist activities” to address the externalities of tourism.
• Regulation and Planning: Barcelona recognises that the regulatory and planning instruments need to be adapted to minimise the negative effects of tourist practices and the “new disruptive phenomena not covered by current bylaws have to be regulated, especially with regard to tourist accommodation and competition between economic activities and basic shared resources.” New bylaws and urban planning tools authorised by the General Plan and the Special Urban Development Plan for Tourist Accommodation (PEUAT) and “specific regulations for economic activities in areas with the biggest concentration of visitors in the public space.” This will also require more “inspections of the supply of illegal tourist accommodation” and more collaboration in enforcement across the city government.”

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• Sustainability

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The barcelona tourism observatory within the framework of tourism sustainability   .

In the new social, economic and environmental paradigm , sustainability has become the backbone of everyday life , so that it has become relevant in governmental and business actions , in which tourism activity has not been and it is not foreign to. Within the framework of the goals established by the 2030 Agenda at a global level, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been introduced transversally in tourism sustainability policies and analysis systems .

otb_sits_1.jpg

Systems to analyse tourism sustainability

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with the aim of progressing towards sustainable tourism , published in 2004 the guide Indicators of Sustainable Development for Tourism Destinations: A Guidebook  (OMT, 2004) . This guidebook aims to provide destinations with tools for developing indicator systems , which must inevitably incorporate social, environmental and economic aspects. Besides, the World Tourism Organisation International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) has published, in 2022, a repository of tools and resources with the aim of guiding the indicators design and sources for the 11 isues considered as  essential in order to monitor tourism sustainability.

Meanwhile, Destination Barcelona has been developing various systems of tourism sustainability indicators ( SIT-DIBA  and SIT-BCN) since 2013. It has also participated in other indicator systems that monitor the sustainability of many destinations ( ETIS  and  GDS Index ).

In order to measure the reconciliation of citizens' lives with the tourism activity , Destinació Barcelona also takes into account the perception of visitors and residents . For this reason, the Barcelona Tourism Observatory carries out an annual Survey of Tourist Profile and Habits in Destination Barcelona , which collects the visitors' opinions on different aspects of the destination, while the Barcelona Regional Council and the Barcelona City Council study the  residents' perspective on the externalities of the tourism activity in the territory.

With these premises, taking into account SDG12b " to develop and to apply instruments to monitor the effects of sustainable development, with the aim of achieving sustainable tourism that generates jobs and promotes culture and local products " ( Government of Spain, 2022 ), the OTB established as a strategic line of action the creation of an indicators system to measure the sustainability of tourism activity in Destination Barcelona . The creation of this system, which has been named the OTB Sustainable Tourism Indicators System (SITS - OTB), has been carried out after studying and analysing the state of play  of the previous use of indicators in sustainable tourism in Destination Barcelona and it has allowed the observatory  to be part of the network of INSTO observatories .

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Barcelona Prepares its Destination Marketing Strategy

The new roadmap must give priority to sustainable tourism, with the highest levels of social and economic positive impact.

The president of Turisme de Barcelona, Joan Gaspart, alongside the Barcelona City Council councillor for Tourism, Trade and Markets, Agustí Colom, have announced the start of a process to design the "Destination Barcelona" tourism marketing strategy for the years to come. This initiative, born out of one of the proposals in the 2020 Strategic Tourism Plan, will define the strategy for tourism destination marketing through the work of Turisme de Barcelona, in a joint process with the City Council, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona Provincial Council.

Joan Gaspart has emphasised the wide range of interests involved in this marketing plan and its geographical scope, as well as the need to seek new forms of presenting the city, considering the changes in consumption patterns and forms of travel. Gaspart considers that this spirit of collaboration between four institutions (City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Provincial Council and Turisme de Barcelona) means "incorporating the new reality and strengthening complicity between the city and the surrounding area to create a strong image". The councillor Agustí Colom believes that it is essential that tourism management is integrated and that marketing is a key tool in this. "We must ensure that tourism manages to involve other sectors, and becomes a real focus for economic development spreading to the city and other sectors of the economy", Colom has stated.

The main objectives of the Marketing Strategy (EMTDB) can be summarised as: guaranteeing the sustainability of the destination, promoting the competitiveness of the activity while ensuring the maximum social return on investment, boosting the multiplier effect of tourism in strategic economic sectors, incentivising the integrated management of the destination and incorporating the various voices making up the destination. In short, the marketing strategy must guide the future actions of all public and private agents presenting the image of the city through their activity.

The tourism destination marketing plan is expected to be ready and implemented in its entirety within a year (6 months for diagnosis and drafting of the action plan and 6 months to implement it in the start-up phase).

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Can Barcelona Fix Its Love-Hate Relationship With Tourists After the Pandemic?

B efore last year, Martí Cusó didn’t like to linger in the streets of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, the neighborhood where he has lived all his life. It was impossible to sit on a bench or play with his kids outside without being engulfed by tourists . Shuffling behind tour guides, gazing upward at the architecture or pausing abruptly to buy souvenirs from street hawkers, the visitors were often a nuisance to locals navigating the streets. Some zoomed through the area’s narrow medieval passages on scooters and taxi bikes. Many crowded the bar terraces, which had gradually replaced the local amenities that residents once relied on. “Tourism had eaten up all of the public space and relegated us locals to a role of extras on a set,” says Cusó, 31, a teacher and member of the Gothic Quarter residents’ association.

Despite residents’ protests, the number of tourists flooding into Barcelona soared over the past two decades, with nearly 12 million visiting the city of 1.6 million in 2019. But when COVID-19 hit, forcing Spain to close its borders to tourists, locals reclaimed the city center. “We saw scenes we hadn’t seen in a long time. The squares that are normally full of terrazas and tourists were occupied by kids playing, or families, or people sunbathing,” Cusó says. “Now we’re scared we’re going to lose that again.”

E.U. leaders have agreed to allow vaccinated tourists to visit European countries this summer without quarantining. News of the plan prompted an immediate 47% surge in searches for flights to Europe, according to travel analytics firm Hopper. In Barcelona, where Americans make up the largest group of foreign visitors, the city hopes to welcome 1 million tourists this summer. On May 29, the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s iconic cathedral , reopened to visitors.

Read more: How Europe Transformed Itself for Tourism, and Why It Backfired

Across Europe’s many tourism hot spots , authorities are walking a tightrope as the COVID-19 recovery gathers steam. The pandemic laid bare how a rush for tourism dollars has left downtowns dependent on the industry. Officials are desperate to revive the sector, which has suffered mass layoffs and normally contributes heavily to local economies across Europe. (In Barcelona, it makes up 15% of GDP.) At the same time, locals are pressuring city governments to use the disruption of COVID-19 to impose new rules on the industry. In March, Italy’s government said it would ban cruise ships from entering the center of Venice, while Amsterdam is pressing ahead with a plan to curb sex work in the city center and relocate its famous red-light district.

In Barcelona, officials have launched a strategy to transform post-pandemic tourism in a way that satisfies both residents and visitors. Under the progressive mayor Ada Colau, Barcelona in January announced a plan that would effectively ban homeowners from renting out individual rooms to tourists on platforms like Airbnb, which would make the city’s already tight controls on tourist accommodation some of the strictest in the world . In a bid to revive central areas and reduce tourism’s group, in April, the city announced a $21 million plan to buy empty commercial spaces and fill them with businesses catering to locals . A new app and crowd-monitoring system aims to divert tourists to avoid congested parts of town. “We’ve had a break from tourists for a year to think about how we want to deal with them,” says Xavier Marcé, Barcelona’s councillor for tourism and creative industries.

The city is also changing how it sells itself. On May 17, the tourism board launched an ad campaign, “Barcelona like never before,” touting cleaner, calmer streets. Running in English and Castilian Spanish, authorities say the ads target “high-quality” tourists who come to participate in the local lifestyle, and also encourage locals to visit areas and attractions normally overrun by tourists.

Locals are skeptical that the city’s plans can help them preserve their newfound ownership of the city. But Marcé insists Barcelona can improve for residents and welcome tourists back at the same time: “I can’t put up walls around the city. I can’t move the Sagrada Familia. But there’s a lot of things I can do.”

Rebalancing the relationship between locals and tourists

Barcelona has developed a love-hate relationship with tourists in the three decades since hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics, which kickstarted the industry’s rapid growth in the city. Almost all of the city’s major attractions are in the historic center, meaning that tourists were concentrated in a few neighborhoods. Its cruise port and proximity to seaside towns attracted hordes of day-trippers, who spent less money and flooded the city center. An influx of study-abroad students and “lifestyle migrants”—who come for a few months or years at time to work remotely—compounded the issue, says Claudio Milano, a professor in the social anthropology department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. “The city has grown to be seen as a place of leisure.”

Rents climbed and public services, such as waste management, came under pressure. Limits on new hotel construction and short-term home rentals, and rule changes like a ban on tour groups using electric scooters, haven’t allayed residents concerns. Tourism became a lightning rod for anticapitalist and antiglobalization sentiments that had grown in Spain following the recession of 2008–2009, with groups of local protesters vandalizing tourist buses with slogans like “tourism kills neighborhoods.”

“Before the pandemic, coexistence between locals and tourists, especially young people and those who come to get drunk, was very conflictive,” says Antonio Martínez Gómez, president of the residents’ association for the Raval, another central Barcelona neighborhood.

But the pandemic has also shown just how much cities like Barcelona rely on tourists. More than 200 businesses in the city center folded between March and September 2020. “Lots of people fell into unemployment, and families are suffering because of the lack of income,” Martínez Gómez says. “The recovery in tourism will be good for the local economy. But we need to find a balance.”

Alok Lahad, who runs a souvenir shop near the Sagrada Familia, says Barcelona “is dead without tourists.” He has lived in the city for 25 years and used to be a jeweler, but converted his store after the 2008 financial crisis, selling models of the cathedral and nearby Parc Güell, as well as T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of Barcelona’s soccer team. The business has been mostly shuttered since March 2020, and Lahad says he has burned through his savings to pay rent and bills. “There’s a very big possibility I’ll lose the business if tourists don’t come back this summer,” he says. “The locals who criticize tourism don’t seem to understand that the people who are working in the industry are not foreigners, not tourists. They eat, drink, go to school and give business to the local nontourist businesses. They’re locals too.”

Officials say the pandemic might help rebalance the relationship between locals and tourists by starting afresh. “Without this year, it’d be like entering a wheel and it’s spinning and you can’t stop it,” says Marian Muro, who began her job as director of Barcelona’s embattled tourism board two weeks before the pandemic started. “We’ve spent a year just thinking.” Where the city was previously reacting to the problems tourism created, she argues, it is can now plan strategic investment in and promotion of the industry to exert some control over it.

Authorities’ main goal is alleviating pressure on the city center. Tourist buses will take a new route, and the Check Barcelona app will warn visitors of already busy attractions, beaches and parking lots. The app and marketing materials will highlight alternative neighborhoods, such as Poblenou to the east, a hub for tech; northern Gràcia, for its food scene; and the nearby wine region of Penedès.

But officials also want to revitalize locals’ relationship with their city. In June, the Rambla, the pedestrianized shopping street normally brimming with tourists, will hold a two-week festival encouraging local residents to reconnect with retailers and restaurants. The city has earmarked a fifth of its city recovery funds to “diversify and balance” neighborhoods, buying up some of the 5,323 vacant commercial spaces in the city to rent to local-friendly businesses at below-market rates. Paris credits a similar program in the 2000s with saving local amenities and stemming the rise of chain stores in its center.

Muro says her long-term goal is to bring different classes of visitors to Barcelona. That includes bigger spenders, such as Russian tourists, who spend almost 30% more during their visit than the average visitor. But she also wants people attracted by Barcelona’s culture and customs more than sunbathing and excessive drinking. “In the center, there are restaurants where I wouldn’t eat,” she says. “And if I wouldn’t eat there, then neither would the kind of tourists we’re pursuing.”

A more equitable and sustainable model for tourism

European governments are under substantial pressure to revive their pandemic-ravaged travel industries. International visitors spent $619 billion in Europe in 2019. That figure fell by 64% in 2020, and about 3.6 million people lost tourism jobs.

Governments across the region are now pushing to relax travel restrictions to allow a rebound this summer. But officials in Spain, Italy and Greece say they will use the recovery to make tourism more environmentally and socially sustainable. At a local level, the key is a more equal distribution of the industry, not just geographically, but also of the wealth it creates, says Marcé, the Barcelona tourism councillor. “We need to widen the frame. It can’t just be hotels and restaurants and luxury brands in the center of town, but also local actors that have a lot to offer visitors but maybe aren’t part of powerful lobbies that have set the agenda in tourism.” Stores selling daily necessities, cultural creators and local sports venues should also benefit, he adds.

Cusó, the Gothic Quarter resident, doubts the city’s plans will improve the lives of Barcelona residents. The only way to do that, he says, is to stop promoting the city and reduce the number of tourists who come. “I wanted the government to use this opportunity to rethink a new model for the city,” he says, arguing that the city should spend recovery funds to create new jobs in public health and education. “What they’re doing now is just an attempt to revert to the situation we had in 2019.”

Even if it is, Marcé doesn’t expect Barcelona’s tourism to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2023, amid varying rates of vaccine rollouts and restriction easing around the world. Marcé says that time will allow the city’s strategy to bear fruit. “We think we can have a very different situation,” he says. “To find out, we need tourists to come back.”

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Visit Barcelona

Professionals

• Barcelona Convention Bureau

VisitBarcelona official visitor guide

• Accessible tourism

Tourist Office - Plaça Catalunya  

 © Curro Palacios

Responsible tourism guidelines

1. Plan your stay . Look for official, up-to-date sources of information when planning your stay. There are also tourist information points around the city to advise you and help you decide what you want to visit.

2. Get to know our history, customs and traditions . Meet the locals and learn about a different culture .

3. Take care of, respect and admire our heritage . Respect the guidelines at each visitor attraction. Each one is unique and it is important to take care and avoid any negative impacts to ensure everyone can enjoy it.

4. Discover the city on foot, public transport and by bike . Barcelona has an integrated transport network with electric and hybrid vehicles to help you get around the city without using private transport. It also has more than 250km of cycle lanes so you can explore the city in an active way.

5. Barcelona takes care of you, so take care of it too . Enjoy a satisfactory visit in harmony with the local community. Please respect coexistence guidelines, the local residents, keep noise down to a minimum and protect public spaces.

6. Choose sustainable services . Barcelona is recognised as a responsible Biosphere destination . Choose tourism businesses and services that have obtained this certification and are committed to the responsible management of the environment, culture and social and economic returns.

7. Boost the economy . Visit the city's Unique Shops , where you can buy local, handmade, designer items with their own distinctive identity.

8. Discover local flavours . Experience and discover the most typical food of the area and try some of the locally sourced products that will reveal the city to you through your five senses.

9. Make good use of natural resources . Contribute to preserving natural spaces and the habitat. Water is a scarce resource, do not waste it.

10. Keep waste, single-use plastic and paper consumption to a minimum . Try to put your waste in the recycling bins in the street. Avoid single-use plastic: the water from the public drinking fountains in Barcelona is potable. If you have your own water bottle, you can fill it whenever you need to.

Be sustainable and inspire others by following our responsible and sustainable tourism tips.

You will find more information about Sustainable Barcelona here.

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Tourism in Barcelona - statistics & facts

Barcelona’s main tourist attractions, a place for every type of visitor, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Number of overnight visitors in Barcelona 2018-2023, by accommodation type

Tourist tax in Barcelona 2024, by accommodation type

Tourism employment in Barcelona 2023, by industry

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Museums & Galleries

Most visited tourist attractions in Barcelona 2022

Accommodation

Most common origin countries among foreign hotel guests in Barcelona 2023

Further recommended statistics

Regional overview.

• Premium Statistic Quarterly trade, transport & lodging GDP in Catalonia 2017-2023
• Premium Statistic Employment in tourism in Catalonia 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of trips made by local travelers in Catalonia 2015-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of domestic trips to Catalonia 2015-2023
• Premium Statistic International tourism volume in Catalonia 2000-2023
• Premium Statistic Spanish cities with the largest number of international hotel guests 2023
• Premium Statistic Spanish tourist destinations with the highest hotel investments 2023

Quarterly trade, transport & lodging GDP in Catalonia 2017-2023

Contribution of the trade, transport, and accommodation industries to the gross domestic product in Catalonia, Spain from 1st quarter 2017 to 4th quarter 2023 (in billion euros)

Employment in tourism in Catalonia 2010-2023

Number of employees in hospitality and travel agencies in Catalonia, Spain from 2010 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

Number of trips made by local travelers in Catalonia 2015-2023

Number of trips taken by local tourists in Catalonia, Spain from 2015 to 2023 (in millions)

Number of domestic trips to Catalonia 2015-2023

Number of trips to Catalonia taken by domestic tourists in Spain from 2015 to 2023 (in millions)

International tourism volume in Catalonia 2000-2023

Number of international tourists in Catalonia, Spain from 2000 to 2023 (in millions)

Spanish cities with the largest number of international hotel guests 2023

Most visited cities by international overnight tourists in Spain in 2023 (in 1,000s)

Spanish tourist destinations with the highest hotel investments 2023

Leading hotel markets in Spain 2023, based on capital invested (in million euros)

Tourism volume

• Basic Statistic Leading European city tourism destinations 2019-2022, by number of bed nights
• Premium Statistic Number of hotel guests in Barcelona 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Most common origin countries among foreign hotel guests in Barcelona 2023
• Premium Statistic Passenger traffic at El Prat Airport 2000-2023
• Premium Statistic Cruise passenger traffic at Barcelona's port 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Ferry passenger traffic at Barcelona's port 2000-2023
• Premium Statistic Main means of travel for tourists in Barcelona 2017-2023
• Premium Statistic Opinions on tourism as the main problem in Barcelona 2006-2023

Leading European city tourism destinations 2019-2022, by number of bed nights

Leading city tourism destinations in Europe from 2019 to 2022, by number of bed nights (in millions)

Number of hotel guests in Barcelona 1990-2023

Number of tourists in hotels in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

Leading countries of origin among international tourists who stayed at hotels in Barcelona, Spain in 2023 (in 1,000s)

Passenger traffic at El Prat Airport 2000-2023

Number of air passengers at the Barcelona-El Prat Airport, Spain from 2000 to 2023 (in millions)

Cruise passenger traffic at Barcelona's port 1990-2023

Number of cruise passengers in the Port of Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

Ferry passenger traffic at Barcelona's port 2000-2023

Number of ferry passengers at the Port of Barcelona, Spain from 2000 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

Main means of travel for tourists in Barcelona 2017-2023

Distribution of tourists in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023, by means of transport

Opinions on tourism as the main problem in Barcelona 2006-2023

Share of population in Barcelona, Spain who considered tourism to be the main problem of the city from 2006 to 2023

Visitor profile

• Premium Statistic Number of overnight visitors in Barcelona 2018-2023, by accommodation type
• Premium Statistic Tourists in Barcelona 2000-2023, by travel reason
• Premium Statistic Per capita spend of visitors in Barcelona 2023, by type of expense
• Premium Statistic Main tourist activities in Barcelona 2023
• Premium Statistic Most visited tourist attractions in Barcelona 2022
• Premium Statistic Most popular types of websites for planning travels to Barcelona 2023

Number of tourists in commercial accommodation establishments in Barcelona, Spain from 2018 to 2023, by type (in 1,000s)

Tourists in Barcelona 2000-2023, by travel reason

Distribution of tourists in Barcelona, Spain from 2000 to 2023, by travel purpose

Per capita spend of visitors in Barcelona 2023, by type of expense

Average expenditure of tourists in Barcelona, Spain in 2023, by category (in euros)

Main tourist activities in Barcelona 2023

Most popular activities among tourists in Barcelona, Spain in 2023

Leading tourist attractions in Barcelona, Spain in 2022, based on number of visitors (in 1,000s)

Most popular types of websites for planning travels to Barcelona 2023

Most used online platforms to plan a trip to Barcelona, Spain in 2023

Hotel market

• Premium Statistic Number of hotels in Barcelona 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of hotels in Barcelona 2023, by star category
• Basic Statistic Leading hotels in Barcelona 2023, by traveler ratings
• Premium Statistic Hotel capacity in Barcelona 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Hotel overnights in Barcelona 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Hotel bed occupancy in Barcelona 1990-2023
• Premium Statistic Monthly ADR of hotel establishments in Barcelona 2021-2023
• Premium Statistic Tourist tax in Barcelona 2024, by accommodation type

Number of hotels in Barcelona 1990-2023

Number of hotel establishments in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023

Number of hotels in Barcelona 2023, by star category

Number of hotel establishments open in Barcelona, Spain as of December 2023, by star rating

Leading hotels in Barcelona 2023, by traveler ratings

Best-rated hotels in Barcelona, Spain in 2023, based on traveler scores

Hotel capacity in Barcelona 1990-2023

Number of hotel rooms in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023

Hotel overnights in Barcelona 1990-2023

Number of overnight stays in hotels in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

Hotel bed occupancy in Barcelona 1990-2023

Bed occupancy rate of hotels in Barcelona, Spain from 1990 to 2023

Monthly ADR of hotel establishments in Barcelona 2021-2023

Average daily rate of hotels and hostels in Barcelona, Spain from January 2021 to December 2023 (in euros)

Tourist tax in Barcelona, Spain as of April 2024, by type of accommodation (in euros per person and night)

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Travel and Tourism

/ update, tourism is on the rise. this is how to manage it well..

Right now, some popular travel destinations around the world are struggling to cope with the impact of too many tourists, also known as overtourism.

In response, just in recent months:

• Amsterdam announced a ban on new hotels.
• Venice limited tour group sizes to 25 people.
• Bali introduced a $10 entry tax on foreign tourists.
• The Japanese town of Kawaguchiko built a barrier to deter tourists from crowding at a popular selfie spot with a view of Mount Fuji.

Many more places, including the US state of Hawaii, are currently considering tourist fees and other prohibitive measures.

The So What

“Enthusiasm for tourism is back with a vengeance post COVID and is set to keep growing. Managing it well means finding a path that balances economic growth opportunities with environmental sustainability and the needs of local residents,” says Lenita Tobing , BCG’s global topic leader for tourism.

“For sustainable tourism to take root, countries will need to prioritize strategic planning.”

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that international tourism will grow by 15% year-on-year in 2024, returning to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

Some of the factors driving people to travel more include:

• The rise of a growing middle class in low- and middle-income countries with higher disposable income to afford travel abroad.
• Social media inspiring more people to visit already popular destinations and discover lesser-known ones. It is also impacting thematic tourism trends, such as wellness retreats.

For many governments, tourism is becoming a strategic sector to boost GDP growth, job creation, and the diversification of their economies.

• Travel and tourism accounted for 9% of global GDP at $9.9 trillion in 2023, and accounted for some 330 million jobs worldwide, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
• By 2034, the industry body predicts that travel and tourism will grow to 11% of the global economy and account for 450 million jobs.
• In 2023, international spending on travel and tourism increased by 33.1% to reach $1.63 trillion, whereas domestic spending rose by 18% to reach nearly $5 trillion.

Efforts to mitigate overtourism are complicated by the impact on small and medium business owners. Many SMEs depend on tourism for their livelihoods, particularly in Asia and Africa.

These are some levers to secure a more sustainable future for tourism.

Manage capacity. This could include capacity limits, extra visitor fees, or taxes. Local governments can consider charging entry fees to day visitors, which might encourage more overnight tourists and make their stay more remunerative for local communities. Entry fees can also be higher for popular tourist spots and less expensive for those with lower footfall. Restricting entry through lottery or quotas can further help in predicting the number of tourists arriving at popular destinations at the same time. Some US national parks, for example, have well-developed crowd control measures and use lotteries to manage the volume of travelers on certain trails.

Spread the tourists out. Besides standard travel packages, travel agencies can also market off-the-beaten-path attractions or build itineraries and recommendations that encourage visits to lesser-known areas. Tourism authorities can also leverage personalization based on data to divert guests away from hot spots during peak times. Florence, for example, has an app that suggests routes and experiences to visitors based on current tourist demand.

Increase awareness marketing. “Marketing campaigns that educate travelers on how to be a respectful traveler can go a long way in reducing the distress caused to locals,” says Tobing. This includes information on how to behave at heritage sites, maintain decorum, and adhere to local norms. Encouraging the use of licensed local tourist guides is another way to help foreign travelers have an immersive travel experience in ways that are respectful of local communities. Bhutan is one example of a country doing this.

Double down on strategic planning. In addition to the above measures, which can be enforced quickly, Tobing believes that over the long term, countries need to adopt strategic tourism planning. This could entail borrowing an approach that is popular with consumer goods companies. Governments need to start by segmenting tourist destinations as main, secondary, and offbeat. Next, they should assess the capacity of these destinations to welcome travelers, and accordingly spread tourists across the country through the year. This will help in distributing high season into more sustainable tourism periods.

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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UN Tourism Welcomes 39 New Affiliate Members

• All Regions
• 14 Jun 2024

UN Tourism announces the addition of 39 new entities from the private sector to its growing network of Affiliate Members.

The new members combine a wide range of profiles with diverse backgrounds and types of business: 3 Destination Management Organization (DMOs), 14 for-profit companies, 10 associations and NGOs, and 7 education and research institutes, and 5 others. In terms of geographical distribution, the newly admitted members come from all the regions: 6 from Africa, 10 from the Americas, 3 from Asia and the Pacific, 13 from Europe, and 7 from the Middle.   “The integration of these new leading entities reflects our ongoing efforts to strengthen the Affiliate Membership and create a diverse and inclusive network capable of significantly contributing to the UN Tourism mission. We remain committed to enhancing Affiliate Members' satisfaction and fostering a sense of belonging through effective, mutually beneficial, win-win engagement in the Organization's key activities and projects,” said UN Tourism Director of the Affiliate Members and Public-Private Collaboration Department, Ion Vilcu.

Governments and National Tourism Administrations are increasingly partnering with UN Tourism to promote Affiliate Membership in their own countries to further invigorate their local tourism sectors and to have their leading entities connected within the largest network of its kind in tourism, which currently includes a total of 500 entities.

The 39 new Affiliate Members are :

• Altezza Travelling Limited    (United Republic of Tanzania)
• Amsa Hospitality Company (Saudi Arabia)
• Asociación de Hoteles y Turismo de la República Dominicana, Inc. - ASONAHORES – (Dominican Republic)
• Asociación del Deporte Español (Spain)
• Banco de Reservas de la República Dominicana (Dominican Republic)
• Banco Popular Dominicano, S.A. Banco Múltiple (Dominican Republic)
• Batterjee Medical College (Saudi Arabia)
• Booking.com B.V. (Netherlands)
• Cámara de Comercio de Medellín para Antioquia (Colombia)
• Conseil québécois des ressources humaines en tourisme-CQRHT (Canada)
• Decanter Enterprises (Zimbabwe)
• Ethiopian Tour Operators Association – ETOA (Ethiopia)
• Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism Rio de Janeiro – FECOMÉRCIO-RJ    (Brazil)
• Focus Brand, S.L. (Spain)
• Forward Data, S.L. (Spain)
• Hoteliers Association of Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan)
• IFP Qatar (Qatar)
• Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism – IGCAT (Spain)
• Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional – INFOTEP (Dominican Republic)
• Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía, S.A. (Spain)
• International Tour Management Institute, Inc. (United States of America)
• Ishraq Hospitality (United Arab Emirates)
• JLL Americas Inc. (United States of America)
• Jordan Hotels Association    (Jordan)
• Jordan Restaurant Association (Jordan)
• Klook Travel Technology Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
• MADCUP, S.L. (Spain)
• Namibia University of Science and Technology    (Namibia)
• New Perspective Media FZ LLC (United Arab Emirates)
• Pakistan Association of Tour Operators - PATO (Pakistan)
• Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones de Marbella S.L. (Spain)
• PT Indonesia WISE    (Indonesia)
• Radisson Hospitality Belgium, B.V. (Belgium)
• Rijeka Tourist Board (Croatia)
• Scientific Research Institute for Tourism Development -TDI (Uzbekistan)
• Viristar LLC (United States of America)
• Zagreb School of Economics and Management    (Croatia)
• Zambia Institute for Tourism & Hospitality Studies (Zambia)
• Zambia Tourism Agency (Zambia)

Under the current admission procedure, the candidatures were submitted for consideration and approval of the Executive Council after being previously reviewed and endorsed by the Committee on Matters related to Affiliate Membership (CMAM), during its 5th meeting that took place on 6 June. These candidatures are the results of the implementation of the expansion strategy of the Affiliate Membership, aiming at improving the quality and geographical balance of the Affiliates network.

The admission of these new members was endorsed during the 121st Session of the Executive Council , which took place in Barcelona, Spain, on June 10-11.

Related links

• Download News Release on PDF
• Affiliate Members
• Executive Council - 121st session

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The best hidden gems to visit in summer tourist hot spots, from someone who's been to every European country

• Lee Abbamonte is a banker turned travel blogger who has visited every country in Europe.  
• He calls Spain, Italy, France, and Greece Europe's "Big Four" because of how popular they are.
• If you're visiting one of the "Big Four," here are Abbamonte's off-the-beaten-path tips. 

Traveling to Europe this summer? If so, we'll take a wild guess that you're visiting either Spain, Italy, France, or Greece.

These countries, nearly all of which are in the southern or Mediterranean regions, are what travel blogger Lee Abbamonte dubs Europe's "Big Four" because of their popularity among American tourists .

Abbamonte, 45, knows a thing or two about travel. He's not only visited every state in the US but every country in the world, as well as the North and South Poles.

Across the pond, Abbamonte prefers exploring underrated European countries , but he gets why people gravitate to the "Big Four."

"If you don't like it, you're the problem," he said. "They're all good."

Still, he's a fan of venturing off the beaten path.

Here, Abbamonte shares a few alternatives to popular tourist hot spots that anyone visiting Spain, Italy, France, and Greece should check out.

In Spain, forget Barcelona or Madrid and explore the cliffside city of Ronda

"Everyone knows Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Ibiza, Majorca," Abbamonte said. But not many Americans are familiar with the historic city of Ronda, perched atop a deep rocky gorge covered in lush greenery in the Andalucia region.

"If you're in Marbella, or if you're in Sevilla or Gibraltar, you can go out there and check out this awesome little town," Abbamonte said.

He also can't speak highly enough of northern Spain. One highlight is the seaside town of A Coruña, which is close to the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes leading to a holy site in the city of Santiago de Compostela.

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"I've done a lot of road trips around the north of Spain," Abbamonte said. "It's just an awesome little slice of Europe that nobody ever goes to."

If you're planning to island-hop in Greece, Abbamonte has recommendations that aren't Mykonos or Santorini

Mykonos and Santorini are two of the most well-known islands in Greece. Naturally, they're also two of the most overcrowded.

People familiar with Greece, like Abbamonte, often advise against visiting Mykonos and Santorini in favor of smaller islands that are quieter but just as beautiful, such as Aegina, Poros, and Hydra.

Abbamonte said Hydra, in particular, is worth seeing.

"There are no cars, and it's just goats and donkeys and walking. It's a very cool place to go."

On the mainland, he'd also advise stopping by Meteora in Thessaly, known for its "otherworldly" monasteries built atop towering rock formations.

In Italy, there are places just as beautiful as Lake Como and Florence that are far less crowded

According to Abbamonte, "With Italy, you can just throw a dart at a map, and you're in the coolest place you've ever been to."

Even so, some of Abbamonte's favorite spots in Italy don't get the love he believes they deserve. In the region of Tuscany for example, he says people tend to prioritize Florence, Pisa, or Siena.

All three are definitely worth seeing at least once, Abbamonte said, but he'd also recommend exploring smaller villages nestled between Tuscany's rolling hills, such as San Gimignano, Montalcino, and Montepulciano — all known for their endless vineyards and wines.

"Those are actually really awesome little villages and well worth checking out," he said.

Up in the north, Abbamonte said he'd skip Lake Como for any of the other Italian lakes close to the Dolomite mountains.

"It's my favorite place to road trip, probably, in all of Europe," he said.

Vacation like a local in France and visit Biarritz instead of Paris or Nice

Abbamonte cited Paris and Nice as examples of some of France's best-known vacation spots.

However, he said they are mostly hot spots for tourists rather than French locals, who tend to vacation in places "completely overlooked" by outsiders.

One of his favorites is Biarritz, a seaside hub known for its surfing culture in the Basque region of France. It's north of San Sebastian, a coastal Spanish city popular with tourists that is about a half-hour drive from the French border.

"Everyone knows San Sebastian now. Not a lot of people know Biarritz except for French people," he said. "But that's why I like it because it has a real, local kind of old money, Grace Kelly feel."

Other spots in France that he recommends checking out are the medieval town of Saint Paul De Vence on the French Riviera , beloved by generations of artists and poets, and the riverside city of Avignon in the southeast, one of his "favorite towns in all of Europe."

Correction: June 4, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the location of A Coruña. It's in northwestern Spain, not in Spain's Basque region. The story also misstated the location of Monte Carlo, which is in Monaco, not France.

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