Adventure sports bookings forecast to increase 5% this season in north-eastern Catalonia

Bookings for adventure sports and active tourism in north-eastern Catalonia are forecast to increase by 5% this year, reaching a total of 740,000.

The most demanded sport is rafting, which had 169,213 bookings last year, followed by hiking, and then canyoning.

Last year, the sector generated nearly a total of 98.5 million euros for the Lleida region of the country, and also created jobs for just under 2,000 people, 816 of which were full-time.

Health and safety

Maintaining the quality of the services provided, and ensuring people’s safety, are the challenges faced by the sector after heavy rain and increase in water volume.

The president of the county of Pallars Sobirà (in the Lleida region,) Carles Isús, explained that work will take place on  the dam at Hostalet on the river Noguera Pallaresa in order to improve the safety of people who pass by that point of the river. Until now, rafting clients had to get out of the raft, only to get back on it further down river in order to avoid a waterfall. Once the works are complete, this won’t be necessary. This forms part of a European project with an investment of 278,117 euros.