THE ROAD less traveled

Barcelona and Catalonia will need to expand their tourism offerings past the well-known beaches to create a path toward more sustainable tourism for the region.

What are the agency’s objectives?

The objective of the agency is two-fold: to guarantee the continued growth of the important tourism sector, which accounts for 14% of jobs, and guarantee international marketing of the sector and the Catalan brand by working with both the public and private sectors. We establish governance roles in partnership with Barcelona, Costa Brava, Costa Dorada, Lleida, and all the territorial entities whose mission is to project the destination to the world. The agency was founded in 2010, though previously there was a consortium that executed similar functions. We currently have a budget of around EUR23-25 million.

Could you tell us more about the strategic tourism plan for 2018-2022?

The strategic plan was approved by the regional government, and it was approved by consensus with private and public sectors. The plan has 20 concrete initiatives. With marketing, we aim to position Catalonia as one of the first destinations of the Mediterranean arch. We also want to broaden our tourism offering to more than the beach; we have many other tourism products including gastronomy, mountains, sports, wine, and many more experiences. We want to offer marketing that benefits both the private and public sectors. We also want to guarantee that tourists not only come in the high season of July to August but also over a longer period of time. We want to expand tourism across the whole territory, because Barcelona is currently the main brand and city that attracts international tourists. We will do segmented marketing to achieve this; for example, we are launching a global sports tourism campaign for 2020. We need to be positioned digitally because most travel reservations are done online today.

Can you tell us more about your international collaborations and how you promote the Catalan brand internationally?

Our mission is to attract a certain type of tourist who will be loyal to us. We want to create a model of sustainable tourism for the future, not only environmentally, but also to ensure that tourism is distributed throughout the territory. We have a network of 12 offices around the world, including seven in Europe and one each in Russia, New York, São Paulo, Singapore, and Beijing. We also have relationships with international travel agencies, media outlets, and influencers. This network allows us to be the first tourism destination in Spain and the one with the highest tourist expenditure. Next, we want to better align with the private sector; one of the greatest challenges in this is continuing with the private-public strategy approved by all stakeholders. For example, we have a mission in South Korea and Japan, where we will go with 15 companies. We did this in Australia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil; in 2020, we will go to the US and Mexico.

How do you target corporate tourists?

Business tourism comes due to opportunities in Catalonia’s industrial and business sectors, and has been growing through the Catalonia Convention Bureau, among others. As one of our branches, it works with the private sector to bring conferences, events, and business meetings to Barcelona. These efforts have resulted in the city becoming the first in the ICTA rankings in number of conference participants. Our program called the ambassadors allows us to work with high-level executives who work or organize events in Catalonia to encourage them to organize their events here.

What are your main objectives for 2020?

2020 will be the year of sports tourism for many reasons. First, it is an Olympic year in Japan, which fits with two of our focuses. Second, we are working on winning the Olympic bid for Pirineus 2030. Third, we were recognized as the best sport destination in 2017. Finally, we have been working on sports tourism since 2003 with companies and teams. There is a good amount of people who plan vacations around sports events. Sports also allows us to receive tourism in other seasons apart from summer.

Tourism creates of jobs

Network of offices globally