Barcelona's strategy for tourism in the future
Aug 19th, 2024, 10:38 AM
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Barcelona's strategy for tourism in the future
Barcelona didn't have "mass tourism" until after the 1992 Olympics, which publicized the city to the world as well as open un new parts of the city, such as the Barceloneta beachfronts -- there used to be no beaches until the Games and afterwards the city had miles of beaches.
Residents are holding signs telling tourists to go home. Maybe some are taking more confrontational approaches than just waving signs.
Now city leaders are talking about changing the nature of tourism in the city:
https://apple.news/AeLcyWNBBToC0JjuZv00BrQ
They want to reduce tourism but not give up the income or economic benefits of tourism, by extracting more from each visitor.
That's fine, to make the place more upscale. Understandable to discourage stag and hen parties but backpackers? So students aren't welcome?
Sounds like they want to price out the unwashed masses and only make it inviting for the relative affluent, who can pay higher prices -- which can certainly be accomplished by reducing the number of vacation rentals and redirecting people towards more pricey hotels.
My last visit to Barcelona, it was off-putting how much Casa Battlo was, something like €40 for a small venue. Probably the other Gaudi sites also raised prices by a lot.
Well Sagrada Familia is suppose to be completed in just a couple of years but if you want to see it, you will pay.
Residents are holding signs telling tourists to go home. Maybe some are taking more confrontational approaches than just waving signs.
Now city leaders are talking about changing the nature of tourism in the city:
Tourism accounts for 14% of the city’s GDP, employs about 150,000 people and generates almost €12.75bn annually. But receiving 32 million tourists in a city of just 1.6 million residents also places a huge burden on the municipal budget. Barcelona’s city hall estimates the extra financial cost in security, public transport, maintenance and cleaning at €50m.
The rubbish bins in La Rambla, the city’s main promenade, which has more than 200,000 daily passersby, have to be emptied 14 times a day. The city council recently voted to raise the tourist tax from €3.25 to €4 per person per night, but it will have to be raised again to €6 to balance the budget.
Mass tourism in Barcelona is a relatively recent phenomenon: it began in earnest with the 1992 Olympics. And it has taken tourism strategists 30 years to recognise that their promotional strategy should switch to quality over quantity: more cultural visitors and fewer stag or hen parties and backpackers. “That’s our midterm goal and we’ll get there because we won’t build more hotels, or authorise more cruises or tourist apartments,” says Mateu Hernández, CEO of Turisme de Barcelona, the public-private consortium that runs the city’s tourism sector. “The city is going to be more expensive, and it will push away low cost and massive tourism.”
The rubbish bins in La Rambla, the city’s main promenade, which has more than 200,000 daily passersby, have to be emptied 14 times a day. The city council recently voted to raise the tourist tax from €3.25 to €4 per person per night, but it will have to be raised again to €6 to balance the budget.
Mass tourism in Barcelona is a relatively recent phenomenon: it began in earnest with the 1992 Olympics. And it has taken tourism strategists 30 years to recognise that their promotional strategy should switch to quality over quantity: more cultural visitors and fewer stag or hen parties and backpackers. “That’s our midterm goal and we’ll get there because we won’t build more hotels, or authorise more cruises or tourist apartments,” says Mateu Hernández, CEO of Turisme de Barcelona, the public-private consortium that runs the city’s tourism sector. “The city is going to be more expensive, and it will push away low cost and massive tourism.”
They want to reduce tourism but not give up the income or economic benefits of tourism, by extracting more from each visitor.
That's fine, to make the place more upscale. Understandable to discourage stag and hen parties but backpackers? So students aren't welcome?
Sounds like they want to price out the unwashed masses and only make it inviting for the relative affluent, who can pay higher prices -- which can certainly be accomplished by reducing the number of vacation rentals and redirecting people towards more pricey hotels.
My last visit to Barcelona, it was off-putting how much Casa Battlo was, something like €40 for a small venue. Probably the other Gaudi sites also raised prices by a lot.
Well Sagrada Familia is suppose to be completed in just a couple of years but if you want to see it, you will pay.
Aug 19th, 2024, 10:56 AM
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I don't blame them for wanting to discourage hen and bachelor parties etc. In fact I don't blame them for wanting to somewhat slow tourism which has become just a millstone around locals necks in so many cities. I don't think 6 euro per night is outrageous as a city tax and I wouldn't blame them for limiting cruise ships which just seem to get bigger and grosser every year.
It isn't a god given right to travel and before Airbnb made it so cheap a lot of people just didn't travel until their kids were grown up or until they had a little more money in the bank. ( or they travelled when young and single and stayed in youth hostels until they had more disposable income)
When I saw Barcelona way back in the annals of time we stayed in a pension in a neighbouring town as that was in our budget and we transited in for the day.
It isn't a god given right to travel and before Airbnb made it so cheap a lot of people just didn't travel until their kids were grown up or until they had a little more money in the bank. ( or they travelled when young and single and stayed in youth hostels until they had more disposable income)
When I saw Barcelona way back in the annals of time we stayed in a pension in a neighbouring town as that was in our budget and we transited in for the day.
Aug 19th, 2024, 11:03 AM
#3
It's not just Barcelona. Several European cities are contemplating how to deal with the repercussions of mass tourism, including how to fund the infrastructure required to handle the numbers of tourists, how to insure sufficient affordable housing for residents, etc.
Aug 19th, 2024, 12:48 PM
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Sounds very similar to Amsterdam's less than successful attempts to reduce mass tourism and attract a "better class"' of tourist.
It is something more and more cities, and indeed countries, in Europe will be doing, but how successful they will be remains to be seen.
Vastly reducing the number of AirBnBs and holiday lets would be a good place to start, along with banning cruise ships.
When we went to Barcelona on an all expenses paid trip from DH's employer many years ago, but post Olympics, it was busy but acceptably so for all concerned. I have never been back. Personally I didn't much like it, and it is not a place I would have chosen for that trip, but DH's boss was a Gaudi fanatic, so Barcelona it was.
It is something more and more cities, and indeed countries, in Europe will be doing, but how successful they will be remains to be seen.
Vastly reducing the number of AirBnBs and holiday lets would be a good place to start, along with banning cruise ships.
When we went to Barcelona on an all expenses paid trip from DH's employer many years ago, but post Olympics, it was busy but acceptably so for all concerned. I have never been back. Personally I didn't much like it, and it is not a place I would have chosen for that trip, but DH's boss was a Gaudi fanatic, so Barcelona it was.
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Aug 19th, 2024, 01:41 PM
#8
I went to Barcelona as a college student and stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find. I feel like I was as much a “cultural visitor” then as I am now, so I don’t think that filtering out young people accomplishes the stated purpose of attracting a better quality tourist. The unstated purpose of attracting richer tourists would be more accurate.
Aug 19th, 2024, 02:20 PM
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I'm not fan of cruises either but it would affect many businesses and workers while maybe benefitting hotels, maybe upscale restaurants.
Not so unstated in the article. They want fewer tourists but they want the same or more in tourist revenues.
So fewer tourists, each spending more.
How quickly will they make this transition? It may ultimately be good for the city but many businesses and livelihoods depend on those stag and hen parties. Those workers will have to adjust, find new work but how much time will they have to do so?
I went to Barcelona as a college student and stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find. I feel like I was as much a “cultural visitor” then as I am now, so I don’t think that filtering out young people accomplishes the stated purpose of attracting a better quality tourist. The unstated purpose of attracting richer tourists would be more accurate.
Not so unstated in the article. They want fewer tourists but they want the same or more in tourist revenues.
So fewer tourists, each spending more.
How quickly will they make this transition? It may ultimately be good for the city but many businesses and livelihoods depend on those stag and hen parties. Those workers will have to adjust, find new work but how much time will they have to do so?
Aug 19th, 2024, 02:46 PM
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I hope nobody will shoot me for this but I'm one of those pesky tourists who went on a cruise from Barcelona about 2 months ago. While I was there I brought revenue to the hotel, taxis, restaurants and bars and I tipped generously. I gave a few euros to a homeless guy in the metro station. I complied with the hotel's request to take 4 minute showers to conserve water. I always spoke Spanish in public.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
Last edited by P_M; Aug 19th, 2024 at 02:57 PM.
Aug 19th, 2024, 03:38 PM
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I hope nobody will shoot me for this but I'm one of those pesky tourists who went on a cruise from Barcelona about 2 months ago. While I was there I brought revenue to the hotel, taxis, restaurants and bars and I tipped generously. I gave a few euros to a homeless guy in the metro station. I complied with the hotel's request to take 4 minute showers to conserve water. I always spoke Spanish in public.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
While I see that the cruise companies do employe people but in reality, the jobs they employ is mostly ON the ships and have notoriously been awful employers, don't pay well, etc.. Most employees of ships are foreign, not of the said city/country of the city they port in. And the ships also often take away from local jobs in each port city. While there are people like P_M that may stay in either or both the ending or starting city, they are not doing so in each port city, which is part of the problem (not calling you out, P_M, I promise!).
I'm just waiting for Croatia to join the fray...
I avoid short term rentals, too. I've seen what those have done to economies and housing and avoid them whenever possible. I know people swear by them, and thats fine for them. I got burned by both air b&b and vrbo back in 2014 and have not returned since. I also refuse to spend any amount of my vacation doing chores. But that's me!
Last edited by Travel_Nerd; Aug 19th, 2024 at 03:40 PM.
Aug 19th, 2024, 03:45 PM
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Barcelona was where we embarked. We arrived 3 days earlier to enjoy the city. Barcelona has a very large port and I'm sure the port itself employs many people.
Last edited by P_M; Aug 19th, 2024 at 03:47 PM.
Aug 19th, 2024, 03:50 PM
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In a lot of cruse ship ports, business surges for local tour operators, restaurants, shops when a cruise ship arrives and disembarks thousands of passengers.
You can tell because a lot of schedule of tourist services are centered around cruise ship arrivals.
It's the same issue for Venice, which has no shortage of tourist arriving by plane or land. Those cruise ships which may be damaging the lagoons are still huge factors in their tourism economy.
So yes there are direct employees of those ships who work on board but also hundreds who work for businesses which depend on the ships making port of calls.
You can tell because a lot of schedule of tourist services are centered around cruise ship arrivals.
It's the same issue for Venice, which has no shortage of tourist arriving by plane or land. Those cruise ships which may be damaging the lagoons are still huge factors in their tourism economy.
So yes there are direct employees of those ships who work on board but also hundreds who work for businesses which depend on the ships making port of calls.
Aug 19th, 2024, 03:56 PM
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In a lot of cruse ship ports, business surges for local tour operators, restaurants, shops when a cruise ship arrives and disembarks thousands of passengers.
You can tell because a lot of schedule of tourist services are centered around cruise ship arrivals.
It's the same issue for Venice, which has no shortage of tourist arriving by plane or land. Those cruise ships which may be damaging the lagoons are still huge factors in their tourism economy.
So yes there are direct employees of those ships who work on board but also hundreds who work for businesses which depend on the ships making port of calls.
You can tell because a lot of schedule of tourist services are centered around cruise ship arrivals.
It's the same issue for Venice, which has no shortage of tourist arriving by plane or land. Those cruise ships which may be damaging the lagoons are still huge factors in their tourism economy.
So yes there are direct employees of those ships who work on board but also hundreds who work for businesses which depend on the ships making port of calls.
Aug 19th, 2024, 05:47 PM
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Stags aren't about upscale.
Stags are often the definition of not giving a damn about the residents. If you're in a hotel and the room next door makes a racket it's not fun. But if you're trying to wake up at 6am for work or have small kids it's a lot worse.
Stags are a nuisance to such an extent there are bars banning them.
About 15 years ago Barcelona had to ban swimsuits in town because drunken tourists would wander the city in at most a swimsuit. Some didn't even have that on. The crowds are worse now.
Students are staying in hostels or maybe in student housing while they do a semester abroad.
Reality the worst issue is AirBnb. It's forced out families from their homes. Some of these people can't just pay more. Most of the high tourist European cities didn't have enough housing to begin with.
Students or backpackers staying in a hostel aren't forcing anybody out of an apartment.
Very few cruise ship passengers contribute much. Breakfast on board. Dinner on board. Maybe they take a tour run by somebody from out of town? It's not like the tour sites are empty. The tours go to the most over crowded tour spots. The ones nobody can get a ticket to .
Aug 19th, 2024, 06:04 PM
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Exactly Traveler_Nick. I think the crowds are worse now and the behaviour is worse.
I really doubt most cruise ship passengers spend much in port. You hear people who live and run businesses in these ports complaining about that and saying that most of the money they make in shops and restaurants from tourists is from people actually staying in the town, not going back to a cruise ship.
As for drunken bachelor/ette parties, why not just stay home and be drunk and obnoxious in your own city? Well actually, why behave like that at all, but if you have to then keep it at home.
I really doubt most cruise ship passengers spend much in port. You hear people who live and run businesses in these ports complaining about that and saying that most of the money they make in shops and restaurants from tourists is from people actually staying in the town, not going back to a cruise ship.
As for drunken bachelor/ette parties, why not just stay home and be drunk and obnoxious in your own city? Well actually, why behave like that at all, but if you have to then keep it at home.
Aug 19th, 2024, 08:25 PM
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The best doc that we've ever seen that deals with this issue is 'The Venice Syndrome.' We visited Venice two months after that film's release. While walking in Dorsodouro there, I actually met the tragic Duchess Tudi Samartini. She was one of the main characters.
We will be in Barna in less than a month, our first time in that controversial city. It will be interesting to see reality on the ground.
One recent doc about Barna is an episode of the series 'Magnetic City.' Apparently, many new tech outfits have opened there and continue to attract employees from a wide range of nations.
I am done. the Gaudi, the Merce and the pickpockets from hell
We will be in Barna in less than a month, our first time in that controversial city. It will be interesting to see reality on the ground.
One recent doc about Barna is an episode of the series 'Magnetic City.' Apparently, many new tech outfits have opened there and continue to attract employees from a wide range of nations.
I am done. the Gaudi, the Merce and the pickpockets from hell
Aug 20th, 2024, 02:36 AM
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I completely understand why they don't want stag parties or Spring Breakers, as we have in the US. Nobody likes being around crazy drunk people except other crazy drunk people. I just don't see how they can prevent that.
I can't speak for all cruisers, but we spent some money in every port, and we did have lunch in port. We also bought souvenirs. The ship's excursions were overpriced so we booked with local companies. That said, I don't fault those who book with the ship.
I went on this trip with my sister, who had never been outside North America. This was also her first cruise. This was an absolute dream trip for her, she even got emotional a few times for being so happy. Due to circumstances in her life, there's a chance she will not travel overseas again. Of all the trips I've ever taken, this is definitely one of the best and I have no regrets.
I can't speak for all cruisers, but we spent some money in every port, and we did have lunch in port. We also bought souvenirs. The ship's excursions were overpriced so we booked with local companies. That said, I don't fault those who book with the ship.
I went on this trip with my sister, who had never been outside North America. This was also her first cruise. This was an absolute dream trip for her, she even got emotional a few times for being so happy. Due to circumstances in her life, there's a chance she will not travel overseas again. Of all the trips I've ever taken, this is definitely one of the best and I have no regrets.
Aug 20th, 2024, 02:54 AM
#20
I hope nobody will shoot me for this but I'm one of those pesky tourists who went on a cruise from Barcelona about 2 months ago. While I was there I brought revenue to the hotel, taxis, restaurants and bars and I tipped generously. I gave a few euros to a homeless guy in the metro station. I complied with the hotel's request to take 4 minute showers to conserve water. I always spoke Spanish in public.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
I never meant to do any harm to the locals. But fire away at me if you wish.
You tipped generously..... why bring that contamination to this culture?
