Barcelona hotels close 2024 with record turnover despite falling occupancy

“International, qualitative and with a significant purchasing power.” This is the profile of the traveller that the Gremi d'Hotelers defends for the Barcelona of the present and the future. According to Jordi Clos, president of the association, the overall figure for the year 2024 has been “extraordinary” for the hotel sector in Barcelona, ​​as the results indicate a positive trend in the evolution towards “quality tourism” that increases the prestige of the city in its international projection. This tourist profile, known as MICE (for its acronym in English), refers to Meetings, Incentives, Congresses and Exhibitions Tourism.

The record turnover of 2.2 billion euros, which includes the approximately 450 Barcelona hotels, has been accompanied by a 1.4 point drop in occupancy compared to 2023, falling from 82.2% to 80.8% in 2024. Clos has assured that this decline, especially pronounced during the second half of the year (with a drop of 3.4% during this period), is a consequence of the management in the change of tourist segment that the city wants to focus on: as prices rise, "traditional" tourism (which the association has described as "parties, alcohol and bachelor parties") stops staying in the city in favor of the MICE profile, which comes to Barcelona "attracted by the cultural offer, congresses and other events that are held". Clos assures that this is positive and “should not worry us”, although they want to ensure that this gradual reduction in occupancy stabilises, to avoid “hotels on the outskirts of the city, which may suffer more than those in central areas, being forced to lower prices to increase demand”, something that would not be in line with the objective of changing the profile of the tourist. In this sense, 2024 has closed with an average price of 188 euros per night, that is, 14.1 euros more than in 2023.

The Gremi positively values ​​the direction followed by the city in 2024, since a total of 270 events have been held, including congresses, fairs and other cultural events. They assure that these have become a powerful factor that helps improve the “quality of tourism” that Barcelona receives. This is in line with the work to “change the profile of the visitor” that the Gremi is committed to. In this sense, Clos has referred to the celebration of the America's Cup Sailing, which despite not having affected overnight stays too much, has had a great “media impact”. As for what we have so far in 2025, Clos has positively valued the fact that the line of the previous year is being followed and has referred to some events that have been carried out in these first months, such as the ICE, which came to Barcelona in January after eight decades of being held in London, and the Integrated System Europe (ISE), the main fair of the audiovisual industry, which was held in February. Both events had a positive impact in terms of attendance (around 140,000 people in total) and the number of hotel rooms booked (more than 14,000). They also referred to the imminent celebration of the Mobile World Congress which, according to data from the event's own organisation, expects around 101,000 visitors and 21,000 rooms booked.

The director of the Gremi also wanted to appeal directly to the relevant administrations to make “brave political decisions” to maintain the current trend and go hand in hand with the interests of the sector to favour the “MICE profile”. Specifically, he referred to the expansion of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport, to increase intercontinental connections; to the taxation of the hotel sector, which he described as “suffocating”; and to the commitment to offering visitors a “clean, safe and civic” city. Regarding the second point, he referred to cities such as Madrid, Seville or Malaga as “examples to follow”, since they also “bet on this type of tourism and do not suffer the same tax burden as us”, denounced Clos.