The tourism sector calls for an ambitious pact to improve its model in Barcelona


“We have learned from the pandemic that people want to do tourism, travel, discover cultures…. It is not about changing the model, there may be different models coexisting,” he reflected. Mary Abellanet, CEO of the CETT (University Center for Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy attached to the UB) opening the debate organized on Thursday afternoon by Barcelona Future about him tourism model to which Barcelona should aspire, fresh out of the pandemic crisis. The meeting concluded with the unanimous opinion of the participants on the need for an “ambitious” city pact to face changes that, without giving up international success since the 1992 Olympics, do introduce improvements in local management of activity and minimizing its side effects.

After some criticism from the government team itself and from the ERC for the massive return of tourism this Easter and visible in the most iconic spaces already on a daily basis, Abellanet emphasized that “an immediate leap cannot be requested for a change that takes time”. “We have made a ‘reset’ leaving the activity to zero and we have seen the consequences, we must aspire to recover a position of prosperity”, he pointed out Gabriel Jenepresident of Barcelona Oberta, an entity that brings together the most central and tourist shopping hubs, insisting that tourism and commerce “add up to 25% of local GDP” and that Barcelona’s tourism history is much shorter than that of its major competitors international.

Good prospects for the summer

A fact that has not prevented, according to Marian Wall, Director of Tourism of Barcelona, ​​that the city is one of the destinations that is recovering best at the moment. To the point that forecasts point to match 2019 activity levels this summer. “Changing a model would imply a large-scale cross-cutting plan that would affect mobility, residents, businesses, security and other aspects,” he warned, and that no administration has put on the table. For these experts, the transformation goes through a more humane and sustainable tourism, in the words of the representative of the academic sector, and a sum of public and private wills to undertake improvements.

With the promotion converted into a key strategy, “not generalist but by segments and interests”, Muro stressed that “deseasonalization, decentralization and diversification” were his three watchwords. For this, it is necessary for the city council to provide content for other spaces (from Montjuïc to the Palau de Pedralbes) that act as magnets, he exemplified. and introduce tools technology, already underway, that allow scheduling visits avoiding overcrowded spaces.

More support for downtown businesses

That pressure that seems to relive the hub contrasts with a sluggish economic recovery of part of its trade. Jené complained that the council has prioritized support for local businesses in neighborhoods (which already had neighborhoods to stabilize it), while it has unattended to Ciutat Vella. The businessman claims that the centrality goes beyond the tourist customer, because his shops and activity “are part of an urban model” and must attract the citizen with their “products and experiences”. On the other hand, this institutional forgetfulness is causing a “relay of businesses closed with loss of quality” and very focused on the quick sale to the visitor.

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For the speakers, it is urgent to advance to this “broad city agreement” in pursuit of quality tourism. The director of the tourist consortium believes that the transformation is long-term and should not be considered with ideologies or “at the blow of electoral mandates.” Abellanet defended with conviction the tools available locally to reduce “tourism externalities” that provokes so much criticism: acting from the environmental field to mobility, urban planning and digitization.

All were very critical of imposing an urban design that could strangle the activity of the urban center, despite sharing the challenges of sustainability. Along the same lines, they advocated “improving (regulating flows) but not destroying” the Port’s cruise activity, Muro said, or facing the development of El Prat airport taking into account a connectivity that goes far beyond holiday tourism and ” in the long term” will be key to developing other activities, business or innovation, highlighted Abellanet. Jené added that Barcelona “cannot miss any more opportunities”.


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