Tourism to bounce back to almost pre-Covid levels in 2022, says business minister

Tourism figures in Catalonia will bounce back in 2022, approaching the levels seen before the global coronavirus pandemic, according to business minister Roger Torrent.

In London on Monday to attend the World Travel Market (WTM) Travel & Tourism Expo in London, Torrent said he was "optimistic" about the prospects of a recovery for the sector.

"The data we have indicates that it will be a very significant year for activity picking up and, therefore, tourism too," the minister said at the Catalonia stand at WTM, where he visited some twenty Catalan exhibitors taking part. Torrent, who also met with businesses from the tourism sector during the congress, said he was at the event to "explain" what the country is about and the "plurality and diversity of the Catalonia brand.

The business minister also explained that the recovery in the tourism sector will be accompanied by a "reflection on the tourism model," which he claimed must be "of quality, sustainable and with prospects for the future."

Among the exhibitors at the Catalonia stand at WTM are Barcelona, Costa Brava and Salou tourism boards, Barcelona and Tarragona regional councils, as well as travel agency associations and several hotels.

Before the pandemic, the United Kingdom was Catalonia's second largest market in terms of the number of tourists, with more than two million visitors, and the third largest in terms of expenditure, with revenues of €1.94bn.

Torrent was accompanied at the event by the United Kingdom and Ireland director of the Catalan Tourist Board, Aicard Guinovart, as well as the Government Delegate in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sergi Marcen, the director of the Catalan Tourist Board, Narcís Ferrer, and the executive director of the Catalan Tourist Board, Patrick Torrent.

On Monday night, the business minister attended a dinner in London to promote Catalan cuisine, with a menu made by four Catalan chefs from the Barcelona, Lleida, Girona and Tarragona regions.