cultural tourism

B-Travel is a Barcelona-based tourism show bringing together some 215 exhibitors from across the industry and more than 50 different destinations. The event, one of the most important of its kind in Europe, kicked off on Friday at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue, taking over Catalonia's International Tourism Fair after 23 years. Conceived as a new meeting point for travellers and tourism companies seeking enriched customer experiences, it aims at tailoring the tourist offering to each visitor's needs. This year, attendees can sign up to the B- Travel Internet Community upon their arrival and receive customised information on the vast array of tourism offers on display, focusing on specific types of tourism such as cultural, gastronomic, shopping, rural, and adventure sports, among others.

On Monday, the 'World Travel Market' (WTM) opened in London and Catalonia is participating with a 300 m² exhibition stand promoting a variety of its tourist destinations and highlighting its uniqueness with areas as diverse as the city of Barcelona, the Costa Brava and the Penedès wine region. The WTM is highly important in the tourism and travel industry, and represents a crucial opportunity for business networking and attractive investment. Catalonia’s participation strengthens its growing importance as a holiday destination for British tourists, who have increased by 4% and represent revenue of €1 billion in the first 10 months of 2014, the second largest after the French. Through the event, Catalan companies will mix with 5,000 other organizations from 200 countries, with an estimated 50,000 professionals from the industry participating.

International tourists spent €5.986 billion in Catalonia during the first six months of the year. This represents a 3.9% increase on the same period of 2013. Furthermore, it is also 22.7% of the total foreign tourist expenditure in Spain for this period. Catalonia is the second Autonomous Community where foreign visitors spent more money during the first half of 2014. The Canaries came first with an expenditure of €6.069 billion.  However, both the tourist expenditure in Catalonia per stay and per day in the first half of 2014 fell in comparison with the same period in 2013. Foreign tourists spent €840 per stay (2.6% less than in 2013) and €129 per day (-1.4%). Catalonia is also the area where international tourists spent more money during June, reaching €1.551 billion. This represents 0.2% less than in June 2013, but 24.9% of the total foreign tourist expenditure in Spain that month.

For the first time ever, over 7.5 million tourists stayed in one of Barcelona’s hotels in 2013. More specifically, the Catalan capital welcomed 7.571,766 visitors in its hotel rooms last year, meaning a 1.77% increase on 2012, when Barcelona’s hotels accounted for 7.440,113 guests. 80% of visitors are foreigners, mainly from France, the UK and the US. Besides, this increase in the number of hotel guests  is not the only record achieved last year. Indeed, the number of overnight stays has also reached an unprecedented number, with almost 16.5 million overnight stays registered in 2013, a 3.4% growth on 2012 figures.   

The project ‘Persecuted and Saved’ will tell the story of how 80,000 WW2 refugees escaped persecution and death through the Pyrenees mountains into Catalonia. The Israel Ambassador in Spain, Alon Bar, and the CEO of EL-AL - the main Israeli airline, Walter Wasercier, have already taken a key interest in the project, aiming to promote the history of the 20,000 Jews that used the mountains to escape from the Holocaust and obtain their freedom. The project is based in the Province of Lleida, in western Catalonia, around various historical sites, including refugee camps and mountain pathways used by fleeing refugees.

In 2013, Catalonia was the first tourist destination in Spain. It received15.6 million foreign visitors, meaning 25.7 % of the total number of international tourists in Spain (one in four). The figure represents an 8% increase over the previous year. The Balearic Islands were in second place, welcoming over 11 million tourists (18.3%), a 7.2% increase. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, stressed that tourist spending also increased significantly, generating €14.2 billion in 2013, that is to say 14% more than the previous year. At Spanish level, the number of foreign visitors reached a new record: Spain welcomed 60.6 million tourists in 2013, making it the third favourite travel destination in the world, behind France and the United States.

The Dalí Museums welcomed a total of 1,580,517 visitors in 2013, meaning an 8.42 % increase over 2012. This is the most important figure ever achieved by all three museums of the Dalí Foundation, located in north-eastern Catalonia: the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, the Gala-Dalí Castle in Púbol (near the Costa Brava) and the artist’s house in Port Lligat, Cadaqués (a Costa Brava town). The Dalí Foundation congratulated itself and insisted such record attendance would spread even further the artist’s legacy in Spain and across the world.

In the first eleven months of 2013, Catalonia has been the favourite destination in Spain for international visitors. Indeed, 14,838,018 foreign tourists have travelled to Catalonia during this period, meaning 25.8 % of the total number of international visitors in Spain. This represents an increase of 7.4% over the same period in 2012. In November, Catalonia has welcomed 836,654 foreign tourists and has only been surpassed by the Canary Islands (1,073,759). Stays in hotels have also registered an upward trend: they have increased by 8.6% at Spanish level this month and by 4.1% in Catalonia. The majority of these foreign tourists come from France, the UK, and Germany while the number of visitors from Russia and Belgium has also increased significantly.

Catalonia is participating in the ‘World Travel Market’ fair in London, with the objective of turning the country into a destination of reference for British tourists, and more precisely of becoming their main destination in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Catalonia’s stand focuses on sectors that are usually appealing to British visitors, for instance gastronomy, culture and golfing. Great-Britain has become the second largest tourist market for Catalonia after France. In the first 9 months of the year, 1.4 million tourists from the UK have visited Catalonia, generating €1 billion. The Catalan Government is expecting this trend to consolidate in the years to come.

The Catalan capital is the world’s 4^th main port for the cruise ship industry, with the first 3 one being all in Florida. This means that Barcelona is the most important port in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in terms of the amount of cruise ship passengers it receives. After a small decline in 2012, this year the Catalan capital is expecting to repeat its all time record from 2011, with more than 2.6 million cruise passengers. Furthermore, the cruise ship industry is increasingly using other Catalan harbours, such as Roses and Palamós. This week, for the first time ever, two large cruise ships docked at Palamós at the same time. In addition, this weekend is one of the busiest for Barcelona’s port, with 15 cruise ships docking in its harbour, transporting a total of 55,000 passengers.

The Landscape of the Geniuses tourism project celebrates how the Province of Tarragona (south Catalonia) has influenced the work of four world renowned artists: Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró, Pau Casals and Pablo Picasso. The route focuses on four municipalities in the Costa Daurada and the Ebro Valley, in which these artists spent a considerable amount of time, and explore how the region left a lasting impression and inspired them in the creation of their work. The route involves 270 points of interest and accommodation facilities that include: museums, architecture, restaurants, hotels and campsites. A tourist card gives access to all of the visitor centres along the route as well as numerous discounts.

The ‘Dolmen de Seró’ is a megalith funeral monument dating back to the year 2,800 BC. This megalith tomb is considered a unique piece due to its composition of sedimentary rock and its anthropomorphic motifs. These features make the ‘Dolmen de Seró’ comparable to other European prehistoric monuments. It was discovered accidentally in 2007 during construction work in the western Catalan County of Noguera, near the city of Lleida. Now, the area is being adapted to enable visits.

Located in the centre of Catalonia, the area of Penedès is known for its high quality wine and cava. Due to the long tradition in this region of the production of these drinks and the growing presence of wine tourism, it was decided to strengthen the offers of this sector. On this occasion, after two and a half years of building work, the old Vinseum - Wine Culture Museum of Catalonia - has been reopened with new exhibits in a new location: the Royal Palace of Vilafranca del Penedès. However, this is not just a museum of the production of wine; it is based on wine as a cultural, social, historical and scientific phenomenon.