They look for authentic and exclusive experiences that allow them to better know the territory they visit and they pay willingly for them. Without question, as long as the service meets your high demands. So, it is not strange that they are excited to taste some anchovies from l'Escala, a good bread with tomato or a typical fishermen's stew on board a wooden boat, which they enjoy like everyone else walking along the coastal path of the Costa Brava or a wine tasting with live music in the incomparable setting of a church.
They are the other American tourists. Those who, apart from visiting Barcelona and its main attractions such as the Sagrada Família, Park Güell or Passeig de Gràcia, spend a few days visiting secondary destinations such as Montserrat, Sitges, the Penedès wineries or the Costa Brava.
Most of them stop first in the capital of Catalonia, but there are also those who only step into El Prat airport to take a transfer that will take them to some lost town in the Empordà. Houses with all kinds of luxuries: private chefs, babysitters, yoga classes or private wine tastings.
In the province of Girona, tourists from the United States and Canada have increased by 48% since before the pandemic and overnight stays have reached a record number in the last year, with nearly 400,000. A growth that the Generalitat attributes to several factors. Firstly, to the recovery of North American visitors since the pandemic. There have been about 1.2 million between January and September 2023, 41% more than in the same period of the previous year. They also spend more days getting to know the destination, more than five nights.
The growth is also due to a generational change in the profile of the North American visitor: more and more clients are young and eager to explore beyond the big cities. “They are more interested in secondary destinations that were previously off their radar; Now perhaps they include fewer cities on the same trip to be able to learn more about a specific area,” explains Cristina Gargallo, director of the tourism promotion center of Catalonia in the United States. The Girona district also has two attractions that have long placed it on the international map: cycle tourism and gastronomy.
It is generally a client with high purchasing power. A few days ago, Sebastià Morató, from the real estate agency specializing in the rental of high-end properties Corredor Mató, said goodbye to a couple and their four children from Nashville (Tennessee) after spending ten days, including Christmas, in a farmhouse in Vulpellac .
Morató notes the notable growth of clients of this nationality. “In recent years, we have gone from not having this market to being the fifth most important after French, English, Spanish/Catalan and Dutch, surpassing Belgian, Swiss, German and Nordic,” says Morató, who puts the figure at 322% the increase experienced by Americans since 2018. The volume of reservations has tripled since then. For these villas you pay between 10,000 and 25,000 euros per week depending on the season.
Even so, most stay in four- and five-star hotels or boutique hotels. At the Mas de Torrent hotel, part of the Único Hotels chain, they explain that the individual client is usually very far-sighted and books two months in advance, and the average stay is around three nights.
"They are clients who are looking for maximum comfort in accommodation and who don't mind paying 500 euros per person to live memorable experiences like making ceramics in a workshop in the Bisbal d'Empordà or eating anchovies, whip or fritters in a fishing shack" , explains Sandra Perich, technician at the Premium Club of the Girona-Costa Brava Tourism Board.
Many companies have set their sights on this group, which spends much more than the rest (on average, about 279 euros a day, higher than the 188 of other foreigners) and who show great interest in learning about culture, gastronomy and the natural environment of the destination through high-end tourist services.
The company La Gastronòmica, based in Baix Empordà, is one of those businesses that since it was born has had one of its main clients in the North American community. A pairing with violin and cello, a poetry recital and wine tasting in the Iberian town of Castell or a culinary demonstration aboard a boat traveling along the Costa Brava are some of the many proposals it offers.
“They are very personalized activities that seek authenticity and here we show them reality, not necessarily what appears in the guides; For example, if we do a cheese tasting we put emphasis on who is behind the product, the place where it comes from,” says sommelier Clara Antúnez, who emphasizes that they are increasingly fed by tourists who visit Barcelona. “They are very demanding and really want to discover new authentic experiences that are far from marketing,” she explains of a client who helps a lot to deseasonalize tourism. They prefer to visit the destination in autumn and spring, rather than summer.
At The Real Thing, a travel agency in Barcelona that organizes tailored experiences in Spain and Portugal and whose number one client is North American, they explain that they have recovered the clientele they had before the pandemic. “When they were able to travel again, they came in droves,” says Glòria Pou, one of the company's partners, who notes that rarely do those who spend five or six nights in Barcelona end up sleeping at least once in Girona.
“It takes very little to convince them,” he says. The companies that are dedicated to this profile corroborate that apart from couples, companies, groups of friends or parents and children, they have families made up of more than one generation (grandparents, children and grandchildren) who enjoy the trip. Among the destinations they visit, corners of the Costa Brava, Girona, the Dalinian triangle or wineries in the area. “They don't come for the sun and beach, but rather they look for more sophisticated experiences that allow them to get to know the lifestyle of the territory," explains Gargallo.
Beyond this type of visitor, Girona has long benefited from bicycle tourism. A walk through the center allows you to see the large number of businesses opened in recent years. In 2022 there were thirty.
Since Lance Armstrong, who lived in Girona between 2001 and 2005, put it on the map, the growth has been spectacular. The North American tour operator Trek Travel, which has its European travel logistics center in Girona, has expanded its portfolio of American clients by 10% in the last year.
The sales manager, Silvia Brinatti, explains that the age of the group has reduced. “If before it was between 50 and 70 years old, now we already have clients in their thirties and we have expanded the portfolio thanks to electric bikes,” she explains. Upper middle class, couples, friends and groups is the majority profile whose average stay is between 6 and 10 days. A tourism, still, with a lot of room for growth.
