He strolls through the center of Barcelona without burden, freed from the usual crowd that the coronavirus has dissolved with a swat. It is now replaced by a feeling of emptiness that has encouraged residents to prowl places that tourism had appropriated, an alteration of the landscape unthinkable just half a year ago in one of the 20 most popular destinations in the world, with nine million Annual visitors: after the gathering to stop infections, only 37 out of some 450 hotels in the Catalan capital have reopened and, according to the Barcelona Tourism consortium , only one in 10 places is occupied in establishments that once again host guests at doors of summer.

The industry devoted to travelers produces 12% of the city's wealth and provides 90,000 jobs, now at risk. It is estimated that the turnover will sink 60% this 2020, which means that the sector stops earning "8,000 or 9,000 million euros", estimates the President of Tourism of Barcelona, Eduard Torres .

"It is three times the budget of the City Council, " compares Torres, who warns of the "huge" challenge of adapting to the virus so as not to lose a mana that the municipal government of commons and socialists considers a priority so that the city can rise from the crisis and protect jobs of work. "We know that not all of them can be saved, but we have to try," says Deputy Mayor Jaume Collboni .

Barcelona's dependence on foreign visitors has continued to grow in recent years. 83.1% of those who moved to the city in 2019 came from another country. Those responsible for Barcelona Tourism do not venture how many will continue to come in the summer marked by the Covid-19.

"The image of normality transmitted by the opening of businesses will be important, many of which open at a loss," emphasizes Torres, who believes that hotel occupancy will be around 20% in the coming weeks. It is a very low level compared to last year's records, when the average rose to almost 83% of full rooms.

The Hotel Guild expects 102 city establishments to be in service by the end of July, equivalent to 23% of the existing ones. The same projection expands the opening to 119 hotels in the second half of August, 27% of the offer, and that 170 are available from September, still below 40% of the capacity of Barcelona. The hotel management avoids making predictions about how many reservations it trusts to retain. "Uncertainty makes it especially difficult to do them," he warns.

Proximity tourism

In the scenario altered by the pandemic, the City Council and companies in the sector hope to mitigate the collapse by calling Barcelona residents to leisure without leaving the city and seducing the closest tourism, both to the Spanish public and to neighboring countries that favor travel in car or train, France especially. Barcelona has designed a promotion and activities campaign worth about two million euros to resume tourism after the break, although restrictions on international travel and the uncertainty of a rebound in the disease postpone the recovery of international tourism to 2021.

It is significant that the city is not scheduled to advertise again in European countries until the end of August and the beginning of September, once an anomalous summer high season has passed. The campaign will take even longer to spread to markets with prominent traveler potential, such as China, Southeast Asia, and the United States , where promotion is delayed through October and November. "We need to take action then to reap the benefits in 2021", defends the director of Tourism of Barcelona, Marian Muro , who recalls that the reactivation is conditioned to the "reopening of flights and markets, whether or not there are outbreaks".

Muro stresses that Barcelona intends to relaunch by limiting the markets in which it wants to exhibit itself as a safe destination, prepared against the virus and, also, chastened by the massification that disgusts neighbors and makes prices more expensive. "We are going to a selected audience, not for everyone to come and in any way," he summarizes. Collboni abounds in that it is necessary "to take advantage of the new opportunity to make corrections", also to shield a "coexistence" that softens tensions between tourism and neighborhoods.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Barcelona
  • China
  • U.S
  • France
  • economy
  • tourism
  • Business
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Crisis

De-escalation Costa Brava ready to face the Barcelona exodus after the end of the state of alarm in Catalonia

PAH manages to stop the first eviction in Barcelona after the start of the state of alarm for the coronavirus

Economy The coronavirus crisis threatens employment for the disabled in Catalonia

See links of interest

  • Last News
  • English translator
  • Programming
  • Catalonia Calendar
  • Work calendar
  • Daily horoscope
  • Santander League Ranking
  • League calendar
  • TV Movies
  • Themes
  • Crystal Palace - Burnley
  • Getafe - Real Sociedad
  • Mallorca - Celta de Vigo
  • Barça - Kirolbet Baskonia
  • Barcelona - Atlético de Madrid, live