Tourism

The online tourism reputation monitor analysed the opinion of 7.1 million comments. 7 out of 10 opinions on the city’s tourist attractions score over 9 out of 10.

Vivential Value and the Barcelona Tourism Observatory have presented the results of the online tourism reputation monitor (iRON®) for the city of Barcelona in 2023. The objective is to quantify and analyse the aggregated score for accommodations, restaurants, and tourist attractions in the destination. This is based on ratings published by users on selected major online tourism platforms.

The analysis, which gathers data from a sample of over 7 million opinions on more than 19,000 tourist resources in the city, compares the results obtained in 2018 (the last year of analysis in this geographic area) with 2023.

These are the main results obtained in this edition:

• The more than 3 million new opinions since 2018 have meant a 76.6% increase in the volume of online opinions during this period. This is mainly due to the increase in opinions on tourist attractions, with 2.5 million new entries.
• 3 out of every 4 opinions are recorded in High Tourist Traffic Areas, which are defined by the City Council as those spaces with a high concentration of tourist activity. The High Tourist Traffic Areas with the highest number of opinions are, in this order, the Gothic Quarter, Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera, and Vila de Gràcia.
• The tourist experience in Barcelona city achieves an overall iRON® rating of 8.64 out of 10, resulting in an improvement of 0.12 points compared to 2018.
• By category, accommodation and restaurants receive a very similar score (8.25 and 8.27, respectively), while attractions, 58% of which are cultural, stand out with a score of almost 9. Indeed, 7 out of 10 opinions on the analysed platforms rate the resources in this category as excellent.
• The scores for all categories have improved, but to different degrees: while restaurants see a modest increase in the index (+0.01 points), attractions and accommodation experience the most significant growth in this regard (+0.08 and +0.14 points, respectively).
• The most highly rated aspect of accommodation is the location, followed by the staff. Meanwhile, price is the lowest-rated aspect.
• In terms of restaurants, the most highly valued aspect is the food, while the price once again received a more moderate rating.
• Attractions linked to sport received the highest score (9.11), followed by cultural attractions (9.05). By contrast, the beaches recorded a modest 8.50, and nightlife scored 8.29.
• The report concludes with the online reputation index of 170 selected tourist points of interest, specifically chosen for a more detailed analysis. These spaces alone amass over 3.2 million opinions and score 8.96 out of 10.
• The top 10 tourist points of interest with the highest number of opinions are, in this order, the Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Camp Nou, La Boqueria Market, La Pedrera-Casa Milà, the Arc de Triomf, and Barcelona Cathedral. These attractions accumulate 1.7 million reviews and receive an above-average rating, contributing to the overall iRON result.