tourism

The increase of tourism from Russia contrasts with last minute bookings and the drop of the average spending. Hotels on the Central Catalan coast had a 95% occupation rate in August, the same as those on the Costa Daurada. Hotels on the Costa Brava had a 90% occupation rate. The increase of foreign tourism compensated for the drop of local visitors. Camping sites and rural cottages had a bad season, since they are more dependant on local tourism.

Foreign tourism in Catalonia continues to flourish despite the economic crisis. In July, there have been just over two million foreign tourists to Catalonia, 9% more than in the same month of 2011. In the first seven months of 2012, Catalonia hosted 8.4 million foreign tourists, a figure which represents 25.6% of international tourism to Spain. Catalonia has therefore consolidated its position as the most visited tourist destination in Spain.

The Catalan coastal town of Sant Carles de la Ràpita has signed a collaboration agreement with the tour operator Coral Travel. The Russian company is already working in the Alfacs bay, a quiet area perfect for water sports. With this new agreement, the number of Russian tourists is expected to increase by 50% and twenty companies will benefit. The tourists can enjoy a wide range of activities such as boat rentals, fishing or sampling the various traditional dishes of the Ebro Delta, for example seafood paella. Moreover, all of these activities can be combined with cultural activities around the Ebro area, in southern Catalonia.

Catalonia’s most known wine and cava appellation is Penedès and now it is possible to ride through its vineyards. This is a new activity to experience wine tourism called ‘burricleta’. The ‘burricleta’ is a rental service of electric bicycles with GPS to explore the vineyards in a sustainable way. Moreover, it allows visitors to discover the landscape of Penedès without too much physical effort. The ‘burricleta’ can be rented to do one of the determined routes or even a customised journey. The entrepreneurs who have brought the ‘burricleta’ to the area are working hard on a joint offer with restaurants and wineries to give visitors more information about the Penedès area, apart from the territory itself.

8,000 cruise passengers will visit the Costa Brava port, 18% more than last year’s figures. The Crystal Serenity a luxury cruise liner with 14 floors and 550 suites will be visiting the Catalan coastal town.

Barcelona is overcoming the effects of the economic crisis. So says, the President of Tourism of Barcelona, Joan Gaspart, who revealed spending by tourists in Barcelona in 2011 came to on average 741 euros, 124 euros more than in 2010. In the first six months of 2012, the number of tourists has increased by 1.69%, overnight stays by 2.26%, and credit card spending has increased by 27.08%, compared to the same period of 2011. Gaspart stressed that these increases, although "modest", show that the industry "is doing a good job" to the point where predictions given for the second half of the year also indicate an improvement.

Barcelona’s premier guided bus tour is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year after having been in operation since 1987. Described as “the most convenient way to discover Barcelona's most interesting and attractive sights” the popular open-top bus tour has catered for over 21.7 million visitors and sight seers in Barcelona. Over the years it has showcased Barcelona’s most popular locations, monuments and parks as well as opening up the city’s less well known areas to millions of visitors. One of city’s most successful tourism projects now offers city tours, sightseeing tours and a captivating tour of the major floodlit landmarks at night.

Illegal street sales, colloquially called in Catalonia ‘top manta’, is a daily problem that police and councils face and find difficult to solve. This non authorized business has a turnover of about €100 million per year. Coinciding with the beginning of the tourist season, the Confederation of Commerce of Catalonia (CCC) has started a new campaign called ‘Estirem de la manta’ (‘Pull the blanket’) to deal with this irregular practice. The objective: to raise awareness of the social and economic harm of this illegal activity with tourists and natives in order to tackle the problem. The CCC estimates that there are about 2,500 people currently working in this prohibited business in Catalonia.

The Balfegó Group has started to offer a ‘Tuna-Tour’ that allows tourists to visit in catamaran the farms where tuna are fed and being taken care of. The Balfegó Group aims to show off its sustainable fishing techniques for preserving this endangered species. The tour lasts two hours and fifteen minutes and allows tourists to swim with the endangered fish if they want to.

Thermal tourism continues to increase, but the sector still has to get rid of the stigma that associates it with the elderly. As a result of this image and the current economic context, people from the sector want to reinvent their business in order to reach publics of all ages. In the coming months thermal centres will begin to sell tourist packages destined for young people across Europe.

The Ebro Delta city has recovered part of its Jewish heritage, renovating the old Jewish quarter. In addition, with this initiative, the city wants to attract Jewish tourism which visits Catalonia. Five Catalan municipalities integrated in the 'Jewish Network': Barcelona, Girona, Besalú, Castelló d'Empúries, and Tortosa.

The arrival of foreign tourists with a greater purchasing power increases tourist income in Catalonia by 15% during the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year. Traditionally Greece was the main destination for Russian citizens on holidays; however, the economic and political crisis the Hellenic country is going through has placed Catalonia on top of the list of Russian tourist priorities.

The initiative is inspired by 'Girona 10'. It lasts from June 8th to the 10th so as to promote the Costa Brava town as a commercial and tourist destination. Blanes s offering hotel nights and menus in restaurants for 12 euros as well as discounts at some local shops of 12%. 90 commercial and service establishments are participating in the initiative, which includes a shopping night.

This summer, 87 beaches in Catalonia will display a blue flag recognising their overall quality, safety, environmental-friendliness, and cleanliness. It is one more flag than last year. The Costa Daurada and Ebro Delta got 37 flags and the Costa Brava got 28. Beaches near Barcelona received 22 flags. Catalonia is, after Galicia and the Valencian Community, the Autonomous Community with the highest number of such recognitions. Blue flags are awarded every year by the independent and non-profit Foundation for Environmental Education, in collaboration with the United Nations Agencies for the Environment and Tourism. Spain is the country in the world with the highest number of blue flags.

UAE’s airline Emirates has announced it will link the Catalan capital with its main operations base in the Persian Gulf, Dubai. Emirates has emphasised that the new service will ease the access of Catalan companies to Asian markets and vice-versa as it will facilitate and increase the arrival of foreign investors and tourists coming from Asia to Barcelona.