For more than a decade, Americans have been the best customers of Barcelona hotels. This year, once again, travelers residing in that country constitute the main international market for establishments in the Catalan capital, ahead of the four major sources of European tourism to the city, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany. This is confirmed by the data for the first six months of 2023, in which more than 477,000 Americans stayed in hotels in Barcelona, where they spent, in the same period, close to 1.3 million overnight stays, 12.4% of the total.
The months of July and August, in the absence of official statistics, will almost certainly confirm a phenomenon that is not only maintained but is even experiencing growth. In some establishments, mainly five-star and luxury establishments, the proportion of Americans during these two summer months has been above 25% and even 30%. This is the case, for example, of the Arts hotel, the Claris or the Gallery Hotel, where the rest of nationalities –mainly British and French– are around 10%.
Since 2011, the United States has occupied the first position in the ranking of hotel clients in Barcelona on seven occasions (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022) and will do so again when the current year closes. In recent years, only the pandemic kept American tourists away from the Rambla, the Sagrada Família, the Paseo de Gràcia in 2020. That year, the plummeting economic activity and the extreme difficulties in getting around, including the closure of hotels, restaurants and shops, led local markets (France, above all, and to a lesser extent Germany and Italy) to break that established trend.
The American tourist favors the deseasonalization of the hotel offer. In addition to visiting the city in summer, its massive presence in months like April, May, June or October helps to keep the pulse rate of the local hotel industry very high. Not surprisingly, the visit of a large part of these tourists is linked to cruises that originate or end in Barcelona and it is in spring and autumn when this sector registers its maximum activity. “American tourists come before or after boarding and normally arrive organized through agencies; They are clients who are very interested in culture and gastronomy, they are very clear about what they want to do in the city and they arrive with reservations already made”, explains Lourdes Grau, director of Gallery Hotel.
The total recovery of cruises in Barcelona explains not only the recovery, but also the growth of this market, which in 2019 reached its peak with almost 990,000 visitors (11.6% of all tourists in the city). After the pandemic year, which closed with 99,346 visitors (5.3% of the total), in 2021 the recovery was significant, reaching 190,000 US visitors. However, the big jump was recorded last year, when the presence of North Americans multiplied by four, reaching 806,669 visitors, a figure that represents almost 11% of the 7.3 million tourists who visited the city.
The figure will be long exceeded this summer. The indicator of the cruises does not fail. The months of March, April and May more ships arrived in Barcelona than in 2019 and, despite the slight drop in June, July and August, from September to December the arrival of ships will be higher than that of that record year . According to data from Turisme de Barcelona, 92 cruise ships are expected to arrive this month and more than a hundred in October. Thus, by the end of the year, around 820 cruise ships will have operated in the city, more than in 2019 and 2022.
The American is, above all, a visitor who usually stays in hotels, preferably of the highest categories. It is not surprising that last year, according to another method of measuring international tourism based on the use of mobile devices, more French and British than Americans visited Barcelona, although this same system indicates that in the first half of the year In 2023, the largest group of foreign visitors was precisely that of the United States.
“Barcelona has been a great destination for Americans for years, both on vacation and for congresses and conventions. It is tourism with a high purchasing power, which likes culture, oenology and gastronomy”, points out Albert Grau, partner and co-director of Cushman
In the case of the Arts hotel, "the American market is the one that has worked best since we opened, in 1992, both individually and corporately," says its director of marketing and communication, Pol Fontaner. In summer the majority profile is that of families – trips that bring together three generations are not uncommon – and couples. All of them represent 30% of the total number of customers. “They are attracted to our location in front of the beach and they usually stay for five or six nights and then continue their journey through Europe, we compete with Italy and Greece”, he adds.
Another growing trend in this segment is the trips of Americans to the peninsula. “Instead of touring Europe, they focus on one country; in our case they always go through Barcelona but then they go to Madrid, Valencia, Granada, more and more Malaga and also San Sebastián”, maintains Albert Grau.
Between July 1 and August 31, at the Claris hotel, Americans accounted for 33% of the clientele. "It is an audience focused on the luxury sector, most book between 30 and 60 days in advance," says its spokesperson, and stays at this establishment range from one to three nights. Shopping –favored by the currency exchange– on Paseo de Gràcia is one of the essential activities, as is a visit to the Sagrada Família, where Americans are the most numerous nationality (13.8%), followed by the French (11.2%) and the Italian (9.4%).
“They get up very early and are the first to have breakfast, they reserve lunch at twelve noon. He is a friendly and very talkative client and looks for spaces where they feel safe”, adds the director of the Gallery Hotel. Most of them come from the east coast of the United States, where connections with Barcelona airport are concentrated, which has nine destinations in that country: Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington and Chicago, which has joined this summer. Starting in June, a new daily connection to Dallas will be added.
In addition to the vacation activity linked to cruises, business tourism and conventions have been decisive in driving this market. In five-star hotels, at the end of the year, vacation and business clients share 50%. "Many of our clients have known the city on a business trip and return with their families," the hoteliers agree.
