Meetings tourism Barcelona Convention Bureau up by 28%

There was a 28% increase in meetings tourism in Barcelona last year, according to figures published at the Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB) Assembly. The sector attracted 629,704 delegates to the Catalan capital, 138,676 more than the previous year. This is the first time this market segment has broken the 500,000- delegate barrier, and confirms that it is a great time for the city in this sphere of activity.

Likewise, the number of meetings rose by 36% over 2006. In 2007, the city hosted 1,775 professional meetings, 472 more than the previous year.

33.5% increase in overnights

The BCB’s figures confirm the marvelous progress being made by meetings tourism in Barcelona, which also brought excellent growth in hotel overnights. Last year, meetings tourism accounted for 2,322,371 of the hotel overnights invoiced, representing an increase of 33.5% over 2006.

These results have had an extraordinary impact on the city’s economy. According to this, meetings activity had economic result of 1,221 million euros.

The Barcelona Convention Bureau, which brings together 318 companies, is the Turisme de Barcelona programme that works to organize congresses, conventions, trade fairs and incentive trips to the Catalan capital.

Every year, the BCB conducts a research among Barcelona’s congress organizers and delegates, through BCF Consultors, which analyses the services it provides.

In this regard, last year, the Barcelona Convention Bureau was directly responsible for organizing 81 congresses and meetings to the city, attracting 132,000 registered delegates and generating 500,000 overnights, a 153% increase over the previous year.