The struggle for ‘quality tourism’ in Barcelona
- Greg Richards
- Nov 3
- 2 min read
One of the common strategies to deal with the challenges of touristification in destinations such as Barcelona has been to push for ‘quality tourism’. The idea is that fewer tourists can generate just as much economic benefit, as long as they spend more. Alongside attracting tourists who stay longer and spend more, Barcelona’s strategy now aims to spread tourism throughout Catalunya, easing pressure on the city itself.
Recent figures indicate that tourist arrivals in Barcelona are still rising, with a growth of 7% compared with the first 9 months of 2024. In spite of measures to try and limit the growth of Airbnb and other short term rental accommodation, this sector showed a 20% growth. The length of stay has also fallen by 4% compared with last year, which is not in line with the longer stay, higher spend target. In fact, spending per night has risen by less than 1%. For some markets, there has been a decline in spending, with the UK registering a drop of 4% in daily spending. It seems that the quality tourist is in short supply, particularly among the Brits.
A recent article in Catalan News points out that even if you can attract wealthy tourists, this does not benefit everybody in the city. In particular, those working in the tourism industry itself tend to be short changed. The average tourism sector salary in Catalunya was €23,619 in 2023, 22% less than the average. Workers in catering and hotels, who make up 68% of the workforce, are particularly likely to be on low wages. This adds to the challenges of living in Barcelona, where accommodation is in short supply, rents are high and the cost of living is above the regional average.
As a recent commentary in La Vanguardia put it: “The simplest way to measure tourism productivity is to look at salaries, and these are around 70% of the average. Therefore, the productivity of our tourism is not only low, but it detracts from the whole.”
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