tourism

A report shows that the economic recovery and the arrival of tenants with a higher income have an influence on the market

Coastal destinations to feel the brunt with occupancy rates of over 90%, while top  inland choices expect 8 out of 10 rooms to be full in August

From May 13th to May 21st Girona will host the 62º edition of Temps de Flors, an annual flower festival in which the streets and monuments are decorated with floral displays. This year, the event has grown and now adds 22 new areas. One of the novelties will be some floral arrangements and mirrors placed in the bomb shelter of the Jardins de la Infància (Childhood Gardens). In addition, a green itinerary of 3 km will allow to discover unusual views of the Cathedral of Sant Pere.

The Catalan economy is getting stronger, according to the latest growth figures published on Thursday by the Catalan Ministry of Economy and the Office of Statistics (IDESCAT). Catalan GDP grew 0.7% between January and March, a 0.2% increase in comparison with the two previous quarters. The labor market is also improving, with April figures showing the largest decrease in unemployment in that month in 21 years. With 425,751 people without jobs, Catalonia is reaching the pre-crisis levels of unemployment. The official data shows that unemployment fell by 4.54% between March and April 2017, and by 12% year-on-year.

The number of international tourists which visited Catalonia during the first trimester of 2017 grew by 4% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling 2,988,238. Thus, Catalonia continues to be the second most popular destination for international tourists which visit Spain, after the Canary Islands, which welcomed 3,661,246 visitors during the first three months of 2017. Indeed, one out of four international tourists in Spain went to Catalonia. In March alone, 1,151,664 visitors from across the globe travelled to Catalonia, 7% more than in the same month in 2016. Most of them (22%) came from France whereas 14% came from other countries in Europe.

American Airlines new direct link between Barcelona-El Prat airport and Chicago is expected to increase the airline's passengers in Catalonia by 15%. The new flight will operate from the 6th of May and will be offered alongside the current flights to Miami and New York. American Airlines also flies seasonally direct from Barcelona to Charlotte and Philadelphia. The Regional Sales Director of American Airlines in Spain and Portugal, José A. Blázquez, confirmed these figures in a press conference this Tuesday in the Catalan capital. Barcelona is a key destination for American tourists, said the U.S. Consul General, Marcos C. Mandojana, who highlighted the growing number of connections from Catalonia to his country.

Ferrari Land, Europe's first theme park in Europe entirely dedicated to the Ferrari, will open its doors this Friday. Located next to Port Aventura, in Vila-Seca, a town in the southern Catalan region of Tarragona, Ferrari Land represents a €100 million investment, occupies 70,000 m2, and includes 11 rides and attractions. The most popular is the ‘Red Force’, Europe’s largest and fastest roller-coaster. In fact, it is a vertical accelerator which goes from 0 to 180 km/h in five seconds, simulating the acceleration of a Formula 1 race car. More than 250 media from all over the world attended the inauguration this Thursday, including Ferrari’s founder son, Pietro Ferrari. With this new attraction, Port Aventura World, which includes Port Aventura and the adjacent Caribbean World water park, is set to boost the Vila-Seca area and turn Port Aventura World into a leading family destination.

Tourists from outside of Spain spent 17,328 MEUR in Catalonia in 2016, which represents 3.7% more than in 2015. According to the Tourist Expenditure Poll (Egatur), published by the Spanish Statistics Institute, Catalonia achieved its best result in the historic series and became, once again, the region which takes in the highest amount of tourist expenditure in the whole of Spain. Indeed, Catalonia was the focus of 22% of tourists’ total expenditure in Spain, followed by the Canary and the Balearic Islands. Those tourists who spent the most were the British, followed by Germans and the French, according to figures corresponding to the whole of Spain.  

Barcelona City Council will allocate almost €4.5 million for the maintenance, restoration and enhancement of the architectural heritage of Antoni Gaudí’s famous Park Güell and its surroundings. This investment comes from the fee charged to enter the park, but also partly from the city tourist tax, Barcelona Councillor for Architecture Daniel Mòdol stated. Since October 2013, tourists visiting the spot have had to pay an entrance fee. The Councillor of Gràcia District in Barcelona, Eloi Badia, explained that the remodelling aims at controlling the influx of visitors and recovering the daily life of the neighbourhood as well as the cultural and commercial activity of the area. According to Badia, many neighbours believe that they have to pay to enter the enclosure, but locals are not charged. “We want neighbours to understand that they can access [the park] for free, and we want to recover the cultural and daily activities”, he stressed.

I Love Tour, the company behind the five-day event for students from the United Kingdom ‘Saloufest’ has decided to cancel the festival. After 16 years celebrating this festival in the town of Salou, on Catalonia's Costa Daurada, the organisers have considered that the Catalan Government and the Salou’s Town Hall “pressure” make it “nearly impossible to offer programmes for youth tourism in the region”. As an alternative, the promotors offer to the 10,000 students which were due to attend ‘Saloufest’ to go to ‘Sportsvest’ instead, an event to be organised in Lloret de Mar, on the Costa Brava. ‘Saloufest’ combines sports with leisure activities but in recent years many neighbours and entities in the area have complained about several out-of-control parties, which saw loud singing and drunken behaviour on the streets of the town. 

Barcelona’s battle against illegal apartment rentals has recently taken a new turn.The European Holiday Home Association (EHHA) filed last Thursday a formal complaint with the European Commission against the “restrictions” on the renting of apartments for tourists in Barcelona. The city launchedlast July an action plan against illegal tourist accommodations. Residents consider them to be the main cause for the presence of tourists in quiet neighbourhoods and the disruption of neighbours’ tranquillity. Up to 30 million people visit Barcelona each year. Although tourism represents a significant revenue stream, the increasing number of reported incidents of noise, public urination and nudity in some spots is too much to handle. Barcelona’s action plan aims at detecting illegal sublets as well as denouncing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway for offering them on their platforms. The City Council has threatened to fine the websites €600,000 each, despite Airbnb contributing €740 million to Barcelona´s revenue in 2015. 

Visitors coming to Barcelona in 2017 may be levied with a tourist tax. This would be added to the fee Catalonia already applies to people staying in Catalan hotels, camping sites and tourist cottages. The Municipal Commission of Economy and Finance passed on Tuesday a proposal presented by liberal ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU) in which the political party asks the local government to consider the application of a tourist tax, fee or public levy. The aim is to balance the costs and benefits of receiving around 30 million visitors each year. The text approved also insists on the necessity of demanding from the Catalan Government the transfer of all the revenue collected from tourists visiting the city, and not just half of it.

Catalonia continues to be the most attractive destination for international tourists travelling to Spain. Up to 25.3% of all foreign visitors stay in Catalonia, according to figures published on Tuesday, which also show a 4.7% increase in the number of tourists between January and July 2016. The majority of international tourists staying in Catalonia are French (23.5%) and British (10.6%). In August, most regions within Catalonia have been fully booked, with figures suggesting better results than in summer 2015.

A new poll shows that tourists in the Catalan capital gave the city a score of 8.6 on a scale of 0 to 10. An almost excellent result, which is, however, overshadowed by concerns by those same visitors that the city attracts way too many people. In fact, 58% of those that took part in the poll consider Barcelona’s tourist spots overcrowded. On summer Sundays, up to 20,000 people arrive in Barcelona by cruise ship. The figure will peak on the 11th of September, when up to 28,100 people are expected to arrive by sea. The tourism poll was conducted in 2015 in different tourist areas, hotels and airports and ports of Barcelona. From those taking part, 47.5% were visiting the city for the first time, and 52.5% had been there before.

The Catalan capital’s action plan against illegal accommodation for tourists resulted in July in the closure of 256 apartments whose activity has been considered illegal, a figure which has to be added to the 112 orders announced in the first half of 2016. Besides ordering the ceasing of their activity, the accommodation websites responsible for the flats, Airbnb and Homeaway, will have to face a 30,000 euros fine for not having the required licence. This has been possible mainly due to the task of the so-called ‘flat scouts’, a figure recently created by Barcelona’s city hall, who have found 234 illegal accommodations, while the official inspectors in charge of this only detected 22. “This is not a summer campaign but an action plan which has come to stay” warned Barcelona’s deputy mayor for Ecology, Urbanism and Mobility, Janet Sanz and emphasised that tourism in Barcelona “is not related to seasons”.