Tourism

The Consortium celebrates the 30 anniversary of its creation in a festive ceremony attended by over 700 representatives from every area and sector around the visitor economy. Coinciding with the event, the Barcelona Convention Bureau is commemorating the 40th anniversary of its foundation, an organisation specialising in promoting and attracting congresses, which was later incorporated into Turisme de Barcelona.

Turisme de Barcelona Consortium celebrated the 30th anniversary of its foundation at a social event held on the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium esplanade, with some 700 representatives of every sector and all the players involved in the visitor economy attending. Participants in the celebration included the Chair of the Consortium’s Executive Committee, Eduard Torres, as well as the highest institutions, with the Catalan Government Minister for Business and Economy, Roger Torrent, the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni and the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Mònica Roca. Also attending and taking part were the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Tax Office, Economic Promotion and Tourism, Jordi Valls, the Director of the Barcelona Convention Bureau, Christoph Tessmar, the Deputy Chair of the Consortium, Jordi Clos, and several distinguished figures from several MICE sectors, such as John Hoffman (MWC) and Mike Blackman (ISE); the architect, Benedetta Tagliabue; Mercè Sumarroca (Caves Sumarroca); Carme Ruscalleda (Gastronomy); Judith Mascó (Ared Foundation) and Francina Alsina (Third Sector Round Table).

Set up to position Barcelona as a tourist destination, the Consortium presents itself as a benchmark public-private management model whose most immediate aim is to work in the field of tourism management with the areas of sustainability and digitalisation and thereby forge ahead with a more balanced and environmentally friendly visitor economy, and with greater returns for the entire business network and society in general.

The organisation may have started off grouping a sector around accommodation, assistance, visitor information and commercial products, but today, it represents a wide range of enterprises, a reflection of the highly cross-cutting and diversified economy together representing around 13% of the city’s GDP.

History and development  

Turisme de Barcelona Consortium was set up in 1993, following the 1992 Olympic Games and in the midst of a global economic crisis, to promote the city as a tourist destination and its commercial offers and services. Shared by the Barcelona City Council and also by the private sector (Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona Promoció Foundation), it is a consortium that balances the city’s interests and municipal leadership with private management, which is known as the Barcelona model.  Originally operating in the former Tourism Board since 1983, the Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB) was incorporated into Turisme de Barcelona, becoming its star programme ever since.

The Consortium started off providing an information service for visitors: a call centre was set up in 1995 offering a permanent telephone helpline for visitors, and the first Tourist Information Office opened in 1996 in Plaça de Catalunya, with the BCN Original shop and a hotel-reservation service, as the first step towards improving visitor assistance.  Today, with the latest office opened at Estació del Nord, the city has 13 tourist offices located at various points in the city to offer personalised information in 25 languages.  The Barcelona Bus Turístic (1987) was replaced with a double-decker one in 1996 and became a tourist image of the city.  Years later, with a focus on the region, the Catalunya Bus Turístic (2003) began, with departures to Figueres, Girona, Tarragona and Reus. And just before the pandemic (2019), The Barcelona Christmas Lights Night Tour arrived, offering a new night-time route through the streets of Barcelona’s centre decorated with Christmas lighting.

The first few years saw the creation of the Barcelona Card to start promoting and marketing products around the main points of interest. There are now 5 theme cards or passes offering Transport advantages (Barcelona Card Express) and access to facilities for free or with discounts. So, in addition to the Barcelona Card, there is the Barcelona Card Science, the Barcelona Modernisme Card, the Family Card and a new card about to be issued.

One of the aspects that Turisme de Barcelona has been working on in parallel is the Airport’s connectivity, as well as its promotion as a hub, first with participation from Spanair (2009) and later with the various relations and rounds of contacts it has been holding with the most important international airlines for the city. This is one of the areas where it will be working from the Consortium’s Area of Promotion through the various trips and workshops that are organised from time to time with the sector’s enterprises for presenting Barcelona’s new developments.

Having set up the Barcelona Shopping Line in 1999 to promote Barcelona’s commercial fabric, the Consortium has been deploying its initiatives under the strategy of segmentation since 2000, leading to the creation of several programmes: Sports (2001), Premium (2009), Cultura (2010), Sustainable Tourism (2012); Neu i Muntanya (2014), Food&Wine (2015), Barcelona Mar (2015), Barcelona Weddings (2016), Barcelona Medical Destination (2017) and Barcelona Shopping City (2018).  Thematic years, such as Year of Food (2005), Year of Gaudí and Year of Culture, have also played a part in raising the profile of the various areas and sectors.

2010 saw the launch of the Tax-Free service for reimbursing non-EU tourists who have paid VAT, providing an incentive for visitors, before they leave, to re-invest in the city with the refunded cash.

2011 saw the start of the first steps towards tourism deconcentration and decentralisation, and the signing of the agreement with Barcelona Provincial Council for the joint promotion under the programme entitled “Barcelona és molt més” [Barcelona is so much more].  That same year saw the opening of the Columbus Mirador following its lengthy renovation and the opening of an enotourism information point in 2015 with various Catalan wines with Protected Designation of Origin. Enotourism promotion begins with the territory.

One of Turisme de Barcelona’s initiatives as an organisation for promoting tourism is gathering the data systematically and regularly accumulated over the years. Given the need for planning the Destination (Barcelona city and counties) through knowledge, the Tourism Observatory in Barcelona was presented in 2017 with Barcelona Provincial Council and Barcelona City Council, with the aim of sharing and generating knowledge by contributing analyses, descriptions and assessments of tourist activities in Destination Barcelona. The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce was incorporated into the project in 2019.

In 2017, five years after the creation of the sustainability programme, the sustainability strategy was given a boost with the creation of the Barcelona Sustainable Tourism Awards for Good Practices in recognition of the efforts made by enterprises in the area of environmental, social and cultural sustainability and accessibility. Two years later, the Barcelona Biosphere Commitment to Sustainable Tourism was created for tourist enterprises. That year saw the first 100 enterprises sign up to it.

The Strategic Tourism Plan for 2011-2015 was followed in 2018 by the new Destination Barcelona Tourist Marketing Strategy (EMTDB) with a document jointly prepared by the City Council, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona Provincial Council, and a diagnostic process that was later halted by the pandemic. This involved work based on a tool that helps to make efficient use of tourist resources and thereby helping to select the type of visitor to focus tourist promotion action.  The ultimate purpose of the strategy, presented after 2020, was to improve the quality of life of residents as well as the city’s position and the competitiveness of the sector’s enterprises.

2019 saw a change of chair at Tourism de Barcelona following the Chamber of Commerce’s elections. After 26 years, Joan Gaspart was succeeded as Chair by Joan Canadell, who would later delegate to Eduard Torres (October 2019).

2020 saw the outbreak of the pandemic and the start of the lockdown, representing a turning point in the Consortium’s actions as an organisation promoting the city’s tourism. The travel sector was directly affected by the closure of borders. The Consell General de Turisme de Barcelona approved several strategic lines for revitalising economic activity.  The municipal government approved the government measure entitled Creating New Imageries and contents for improving mobility and tourist sustainability.  This triggered work on creating new imaginaries with the Barcelona narrative ever since. The following programmes were created: Barcelona, destí Ciència [Barcelona, Destination Science], Barcelona Workation for “digital nomads”, and BCNx10, with an extensive portfolio of activities for districts with the aim of decentralisation.

2021 saw the approval of the Consortium’s new articles of association, renovating the previous ones, revalidating an integrative framework confirming the Consortium’s public-private nature, introducing consensus as a tool for adopting agreements and expanding Barcelona’s area of influence.

The approved Strategic Lines for 2021-2023 led to the launch not just of the first specific post-Covid campaign for reactivating the congresses and events, Barcelona the place to meet, but also of an international promotional campaign entitled “Barcelona como nunca antes” [Barcelona like never before] presenting the city as one of the world’s best urban destinations.  Given the closure of the Russian and Asian markets, the international promotional strategy began in the USA: Miami, NYC and California and in more local European markets.  The new Check Barcelona App for flow management in crowded spaces was created that year (2021), taking advantage of the general halt caused by the pandemic. A city guide with real-time information on facility occupancy and availability.  

This was the year that saw a spate of enterprises certified with the Biosphere seal; over 600 enterprises signed up for the ‘Barcelona Biosphere Commitment to Sustainable Tourism’.

Gastronomy received a new impetus in 2022 under the campaign entitled “La revolució gastronòmica continua a Barcelona” [The gastronomic revolution continues in Barcelona], with Barcelona succeeding in its bid to play host to the Michelin Star gala taking place in November this year (2023) and a boost given to big events with America’s Cup candidacy, the Vuelta Ciclista a España stage, the renewal of the MWC until 2030 and Barcelona’s subsequent designation as its permanent headquarters.

That year saw Barcelona receive 41 million euros from the Next Generation European funds for deconcentrating and improving the quality of tourism, with a plan to be deployed for 2024 and 2025.  Barcelona concluded its tourism-recovering summer with fewer visitors but longer stays and higher spending from tourists.

Destination Barcelona is currently represented by over 10 international organisations and networks between Turisme de Barcelona and the Barcelona Convention Bureau. Whether it be on a global scale, such as the UNWTO, or more niche entities such as the ICCA.

Development of tourism from 1992 to 2022

Barcelona enjoys a strong image these days, boasting a brand that is recognised internationally by both new and previous visitors. Barcelona is, accordingly, one of the most-searched destinations in the universe of online search engines such as Google.

The strength of brand Barcelona has led to the growth of international tourism in Barcelona over the last 30 years, so whereas in 1993, 6 out of every 10 tourists were foreign nationals; that proportion has increased to the point where it is now 8 out of every 10. The highest positions of the international visitor ranking were historically filled by nearby markets such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, but the last few years have seen the United States rising in position, taking first place on numerous occasions.

The diversification and segmentation of the destination have, therefore, managed to attract visitors from around the world while increasing the average length of stays, occupancy of accommodation and amount of spending. In fact, spending has not only increased over the years but has been moving, what’s more, from gastronomy to other areas such as leisure, culture and entertainment or shopping.

As for infrastructures, one of Barcelona’s highest-rated features is the quality of its tourist accommodation offers, which is regarded as very competitive compared to other destinations. The number of hotel offers has tripled since 1993, with luxury hotels being the ones seeing the most pronounced growth. At present, 80% of hotels are either 4 or 5 stars, a situation that has had a notable impact on attracting not just visitors with higher purchasing power but congresses too.

As for congress tourism, note that diversification of the type of events held in the city has been a constant over the recent decades: in addition to science and medicine congresses, which continue to make up the bulk of congresses held today in Barcelona, others dealing with technology and innovation have been making a strong appearance too.

These types of tourism are currently having a multiplier effect, given that the individuals delegated to congresses stay an extra 1 or 2 days after the event and are often accompanied by other people not attending the congresses. Two out of every three attendees stay in 4- and 5-star hotels not including travel and registration costs, record an average of €1,205 during their stay.