It is expected that the increase in hotel demand in 2008 will be based only on the growth of Barcelona. It is calculated that the hotel demand in Catalonia will increase by 2.3% in terms of the number of travelers and 0.7% in overnight stays in the current year. These figures are very similar to the ones obtained in 2007. In addition to this, further data and forecasts for the Catalan hotel market are also extracted from the Informe de Actividad Hotelera en Cataluña 2007 (Hotel Activity Report in Catalonia 2007), a study carried out by the EUTDH (University School of Tourism and Hotel Management) at the UAB.

Hotel demand in 2007

The hotel demand in Catalonia grew 2% in terms of trips and 0.8% in overnight stays. This increase is maintained exclusively due to the growth of Barcelona, since the province underwent an increase of nearly 5% in hotel guests and 3.3% in overnight stays in 2007.

On the contrary, we find Tarragona, with a decrease in hotel guests and overnight stays of 6.5% and 4.4%, respectively. The other source of this overall growth relates to the foreign market, in particular the French and the British markets, amongst the traditional ones.

With reference to emerging markets, it is important to highlight the increase shown by smaller ones, such as the North American (8.1%) and Russian markets (with a significant 15.5%), the latter being the outstanding figure in the evolution of the overall hotel demand in Catalonia. It is noteworthy that in a situation of economic crisis, room rates have risen more than the general CPI in 2007.

Catalan hotel typology and employment

The report also offers data on Catalan hotel typology, which shows a trend towards larger hotels rather than hotel micro-enterprises. These constitute 58% all hotel companies in Catalonia, which favours the improvement of hotel competitiveness and is a sign of rationalization and modernisation in the face of the competitive pressure brought about by by the global tourism market.

Barcelona is the province comprising the greatest amount of hotel companies - 45% of the whole -, and where you may find 7 out of the 9 largest hotel companies within Catalonia. The tendency is to increase this number, since it is expected that in the next 4 years, 49 new 4-star and 5-star hotels will be opened in Barcelona, which means 6,000 new rooms altogether.

We would like to highlight the fact that the employment rate in the Catalan hotel subsector has increased more than the average for the whole economy in the last few years, and especially so in 2007. The increase accumulated since 2004 shows a growth in occupation of 15.9% in this subsector between 2004-07, which is superior to the increase observed in the whole Catalan economy (11.9%). The hotel employment rate would mean 1.4% of the whole Catalan economy and 2% of the whole tertiary occupation. The most notable amount of wage-earners in the subsector (52%) is found in Barcelona, comprising around 20,000 workers.

Municipal analysis

The study also provides significant data on hotel activity in various municipalities in Catalonia. These are: Lloret de Mar (30,000 hotel beds), Barcelona (46,500), Salou (25,500), Cambrils (5,500), Tarragona (3,500), Viehla e Mijaran (2,400) and Lleida (2,300).

In the analysis, both the city of Barcelona itself and the slight stagnation of the traditional destinations, which base their activity on the exploitation of climatic resources (Lloret de Mar, Cambrils and Salou), stand out. Also, the successful outcome of the mountain destinations* analysed (Viehla e Mijaran) includes a certain seasonal change* by taking advantage of the alteration of demand trends.

Hotel Activity Report in Catalonia

The Hotel Activity Report in Catalonia evaluates the situation of the hotel sector in this autonomous region by means of different economic quantitative indicators. The situation is evaluated in a different way for each of the four Catalan provinces, by a group of tourist municipalities. Hence, a forecast for the hotel demand of the current year is supplied.

The first edition of this report corresponds to 2007 (whose results can be consulted on this website); and currently, a research group of the EUTDH is developing the Hotel Activity Report in Catalonia 2008, which will be released soon.