Twelve euros more than average per room. This is the increase registered by hotels in Barcelona during the past year. The Gremi d'Hotels has taken stock this morning of an exercise that began still affected by the pandemic and with a hundred establishments closed, but which recovered so strongly from April that the annual average finally shows an occupancy of 75 .2% and an average price of 152 euros, 6.8 points more than in 2019, the year in which tourism exploded.
"In January and February, we did not think that we would reach such good figures at the end of the year", the president of the Gremi, Jordi Clos, reiterated this morning. The year 2022 therefore leaves two scenarios. From January to March, with 30% of the hotels closed and an occupancy rate closer to 60 than 70%, and a second scenario, from April to December, with occupancies of almost 90% in June, July, August, September and October.
During these months, the average price of the room climbed to 180 euros in May and the highest, 193 euros on average per night during the month of June. Until November, the price was sustained at more than 165 euros, so the average for the year ends with those 152 euros. "Inflation has conditioned these prices, we have had a brutal increase in costs and this increase compensates for the deviation in the income statement", pointed out Jordi Clos.
The prospects for 2023 are encouraging for the union. The ISE (with more than 6,500 reserved rooms) has contributed to improving the results of January, which together with February are the months with the fewest visitors in the city. "The congresses and shows, which provide quality tourism, help a lot and in 2023 we have a series of really important events," adds Clos.
The next edition of Mobile, at the end of this month, also marks a turning point for the sector. Although the event does not yet have the bulk of Asian participants, the event already has 18,500 reserved rooms. "This gives us an average occupancy of between 90 and 95% with record prices." In 2019, the last edition that was held without restrictions, the rooms reserved were 26,000, while last year there were 10,500.
