Transcript City Council and Barcelona Turisme

The challenges and
solutions related to
tourism in Barcelona
JORDI WILLIAM CARNES, CEO OF BARCELONA TURISME
Balancing visitors and inhabitants
Reykjavik, 8th April 2015
Table of contents
THE CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS RELATED TO TOURISM IN BARCELONA
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Background
Challenges
Solutions
Considerations
Key issues
Background
Barcelona in the world
Tourists from 1993 to 2014
International tourists
Summer 2014. First crisis of the tourism model and its public perception
Background
 Barcelona in the world
Background
 Tourists from 1993 to 2014
10.000.000
8.000.000
6.000.000
4.000.000
2.000.000
0
+ 220,7%
7,874,941
2,455,249
1993
Source: Turisme de Barcelona (from 2010 with Gremi d’Hotels de Barcelona).
2014
108 milion
tourists
(1993-2014)
Background
 International tourists from 1993 to 2014
+ 208,4%
6,256,934
1,509,978
1993
Source: Turisme de Barcelona (from 2010 with Gremi d’Hotels de Barcelona).
2014
Background
 Summer 2014. First crisis of the tourism model and its public perception
 Incidents with naked young people in La Barceloneta
 Touristic apartments
 Traffic-clogged streets because of Tourist Buses in Sagrada Família
Challenges
A new vision of urban tourism
Concentration of tourism in certain areas
Regulation of new types of accommodation
Challenges
 A new vision of urban tourism
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Tourism as an engine for growth
Tourism as generator of employment
Contribution to citizen welfare
Give voice to different sectors concerned
Challenges
 Concentration of tourism in certain areas
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Management of public space
Regulation of tourist flows in real time
Mobility
Coexistence between tourists and locals
Challenges
 Regulation of new types of accommodation
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Security and customer protection (complaints book, customer care, etc.)
Safety in the city (registration of people staying with ID data, passports, etc.)
Taxation (contributing to the maintenance of public services and avoiding unfair competition)
Transparency (must be included and registered)
Solutions
City Council
Positive experiences
Debate
Barcelona Turisme
City Council and Barcelona Turisme
Solutions
 City Council
 Decentralization of tourism (new plan of districts: to deliver economic activity to other areas of the city and relieve the
pressure on the center)
 Monitoring of new forms of tourist accommodation and collaborative economy (new municipal powers and a new penalty
system)
 Tourism and the city: encouraging a new local agreement to manage and promote responsible and sustainable tourism
Solutions
 Positive experiences
 Park Güell (masterpiece of Gaudí and UNESCO World Heritage)
 Entrance fees (7€) have reduced overcrowding and improved the management of visitor flows
 Improving the experience of tourists
 More economic resources that improve tourist services
 Sagrada Família
 Regulation and management of buses that lead visitors to the temple
 Is it enough?
Solutions
 Debate
 Is it the time to charge a fee to regulate the traffic of buses that lead tourists staying at coastal towns to the city
center?
Solutions
 Barcelona Turisme
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Focus the promotional action in new areas of the city (Horta, Montjuïc, etc.)
Barcelona Tourist Bus: tourists distributed throughout the city
New guided tours in little known neighborhoods of touristic interest
Smart City: use technology (Big Data) to regulate tourist flows
Solutions
 City Council and Barcelona Turisme
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Promotion of the touristic wealth of the whole province of Barcelona (Montserrat, Sitges, Vic, Catalan Pyrenees, etc.)
Actions to avoid touristic saturation points during the summer
Reinvest the revenue obtained from the touristic fee
Move towards a real decentralization of tourism
Show the economic and social benefits of tourism for the locals
Considerations
Considerations
 Tourism is an engine of wealth for cities
 Barcelona needs tools to regulate tourism impact and avoid coexistence problems
 Sectors concerned (taxis, restaurants, service companies) should participate in the public debate
 Transformation of residential homes into touristic apartments contemplates a modification of the city’s
use plan. How should the city react?
Key issues
Key issues
 Tourism has transformed our vision of the world
 Cities are the largest laboratory of human relations
 Our responsibility is to find the right balance between tourist satisfaction and the pride in belonging of
the inhabitants of our cities
Thank you!
www.barcelonaturisme.com
@barcelonaturism
[email protected]