“We need an agreement to manage tourism”

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The sector and the Barcelona brand have recovered very well. In 2022 fewer tourists came, but we had similar income to 2019 and this year we will recover the number of visitors but with more income. This is very positive because the contribution is greater. Spring is also established as the best time of the year, with important festivals and musical events such as the Coldplay, Bruce Springteen or Beyoncé concert. The fairs and conferences sector has also recovered very well with work such as Fira, whose board of directors is chaired by Pau Relat. Is more income obtained only because of the inflation effect or also because Barcelona has repositioned itself as a destination? We see a triple trend. On a global scale, leisure and travel are gaining ground; Logically, inflation also weighs, and Barcelona, ​​even outside of the pandemic, has an agenda of conferences and cultural events superior to other destinations. Therefore, this means that there is more revenue from the same visitors. Not many more people will be able to come because the supply is limited and limited.

We have to become a sustainable destination and we aspire to that visitor who is sensitive to the territory, who appreciates it and who spends as much as possible. And this does not mean that we want to be a destination Job Function Email Database only for high-net-worth tourism. There may be different types of tourists, but be respectful of the destination. Is the limitation of accommodation places helping this? Does Barcelona have the capacity to absorb more tourist places? The challenge is to pay attention, not to the numbers, but to the sustainability of the destination. And this implies management. The promotion of the city has been correct. Music programmers choose the city for the best concerts, the Asian market asks that the Sagrada Família, the Fundació Miró or the Egyptian Museum, founded by Jordi Clos, go there to explain themselves. They want to come and they want us to go there to communicate our destiny. The current challenge is that of sustainability and this implies an agreement, a vision shared by both the public and private sectors.



This moment there is an opportunity, after all the debate that has taken place in the city about tourism, to reach a concrete agreement to advance the same purpose. What should this pact be like and what functions would it have? There is a new political scenario and this pact can be generated between the different political groups of the City Council with the private sector. An agreement to decide how we manage the visitor, how we choose the tourist we are interested in coming, and then, how we also distribute them throughout the territory. For example, cruises barely represent 6% of the city's tourism, but they occupy a lot of space in the public and media debate. And when they disembark, all the cruise passengers suddenly gather on the Rambla. The pact we propose would serve to manage their arrival and how they are distributed throughout the city. What else should the agreement include? Mobility policies, general figures, an adequate offer and facilities so that the hotel floor can be updated, for example. And that the Consortium also begins to carry out management tasks.