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 marvellous 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.

Number of meetings

Number of delegates

These results have had a notable impact on the city’s economy. In this regard, meetings activity had economic repercussions of 1,221 million euros.

Top marks for the Barcelona Convention Bureau’s services
 
The Barcelona Convention Bureau, which brings together 318 companies, is the Turisme de Barcelona programme that works to bring congresses, conventions, trade fairs and incentive trips to the Catalan capital. It is the structure of Turisme de Barcelona which advises and helps businesses that organise meetings in the city.

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

According to the survey conducted in 2007, the BCB achieved an overall score of 7.5 out of 10 with regard to the perception of the services it offers. It also obtained 8.21 in the section about attracting major congresses and trade fairs to the city. Likewise, the BCB earned a distinction of 8 for its worldwide image.

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