ARCHIVED - Barcelona looks towards the Russian market to reactivate tourism
Big-spending Russians are expected to flock to Catalunya in the second half of 2021
All of those involved in the Spanish international tourism industry are impatiently awaiting the reactivation of the sector when the pandemic situation makes international travel feasible again, and in the city of Barcelona moves are already being made to attract Russian visitors back to Catalunya during the remainder of this year.
For many years high-end Russian tourism has been an important source of visitors to the Catalan capital, with visitors attracted to the city by its coastal location, its cultural life and the luxury brand shopping opportunities in one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities. With this in mind, the Tourism department of the Town Hall of Barcelona is about to undertake its first non-virtual marketing visit of the post-Covid era next week, promoting the city in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in an effort to accelerate the reactivation of the sector.
The local tourism authorities are confident that mass immunization and health passports will become a reality soon enough for Russian visitors to arrive in large numbers in the second half of this year, and are keen to re-establish contacts and agreements with tour operators in the two largest and wealthiest cities of Russia as soon as possible. In this context the head of Turismo de Barcelona, Marian Muro, has secured a special permit to travel to Russia for a week of meetings which begin in Moscow on Monday 12th April and end in Saint Petersburg.
Among Sra Muro’s priorities are to stress the safety of visiting Barcelona and to outline new attractions in the city which respond to the profile of Russian visitors’ “wish lists”, but top of the list is to attract big-spending visitors to experience the city’s culture and gastronomy and the natural beauty of the surrounding area. At the same time, she will be underlining the benefits of choosing Barcelona as a venue for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE tourism), completing with traditional Russian favourites for such events such as Turkey and Egypt.
The importance of Russian tourism to Barcelona and Catalunya
Prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis, Russian visitors spent over 1,300 million euros every year in Catalunya and there are hopes that this figure can be increased once the pandemic has been brought under control.
At the same time, Russia was the ninth most important source of international tourism in Barcelona in terms of visitor numbers, with 195,450 visitors staying a total of 486,785 nights. This situation was mirrored in the region of Catalunya as a whole - 530,400 visitors, accounting for 2.6 per cent of the market and staying almost 3 million nights – and the region was the chosen destination of approximately 60 per cent of all Russian visitors to Spain. A third of all Russian visitors to Catalunya were based in Barcelona during their stay.
More importantly for the economic revitalization of tourism, though, the average Russian visitor spent a total of 446 euros while in the region, far more than the overall average of 345 euros, while in accommodation costs the Russians were prepared to spend 406 euros rather than the average of 271 euros.
Statistical analysis also shows that the average Russian tourist was spending 1,164 euros on a 2.5-night visit, while the World Tourism Organization places the Russian market among the ten biggest spenders in the world. Each Russian visitor spends 27.5 per cent of his or her holiday budget on shopping, while a further 18.4 per cent is dedicated to culture.
In addition, the appetite of Russians for foreign travel is undiminished, and recent studies suggest that close to 80 per cent of the population are keen to travel outside their own country this year. In terms of bookings already made in Russia this year, Barcelona is the 15th most sought-after city in the world and the 4th in Europe, behind Prague, Paris and Rome and well ahead of Madrid.
It is also worth noting the extremely high esteem in which Russians hold Barcelona. In rating the city visitors give it an average score of 9.38 out of 10 for its cultural life and 9.68 for its architecture, and are keen to enjoy the local cuisine to the full.