«TOURISM in Catalonia».

The Hotel Occupancy Survey is one of the main sources of statistics for gauging tourist activity. Carried out each month by INE, it provides information on travellers, overnight stays and the occupancy rate in hotel establishments. Idescat analyses these variables according to the provenance of the travellers by place of origin and by destination zones and by category of the establishment.

The number of overnight stays in hotel establishments in Catalonia increased by 7.1% year-over-year for the month of July, 2016, according to the Hotel Occupancy Survey. Domestic tourist overnight stays increased by 9.1%: Catalan travellers increased by 1.5% and travellers from the rest of the State increased by 18.4%. Foreign tourism overnight stays increased, by 6.4% year-over-year.

By country of origin, tourists from United Kingdom and France log the most overnight stays in absolute terms (963.0 and 843.2 thousand, respectively).

For tourism brands, the number of overnight stays in Terres de LLeida (17.8%) and Pirineus (15.3%) were the locations that presented the most increase.

On the other hand, the number of travellers registered in hotel establishments increased by 13.3% year-over-year with increases in domestic tourism (14.4%) and increases in foreign tourism (12.6%

Another important tourist activity in Barcelona and Catalonia are the cruises.

The cruise sector maintains almost 7.000 job places.

The cruise activity in Port of Barcelona generates an annual revenue of 796 million euros in Catalonia (2,2M daily) and 152 million euros of tax revenue. It also contributes to the GDP of Catalonia with 413 million euros. Researchers highlight that it brings connectivity flights to the airport of Barcelona and also economic stability in other sectors apart from benefiting several service and industrial sectors. The profile of the cruise passenger is likely to be a person who often travels with someone else, and has interest in knowing about the city and is a good prescriber (90% want to come back and recommend it to friends and acquaintances).

Font.- Idescat 

Tourism has become a daily element in our lives. In the last 25 years the number of people travelling around the world has experienced a deep and constant growth.

Amidst this growth in tourism destinations, Barcelona has become into one of the most visited cities in the world. And not only Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain are also target destinations in the tourism market.

This need for knowing new places comes with a transportation need, and Avant Grup has its roots in that need. For over 50 years Canals and Bardet coach companies, both root to Avant Grup, began their passenger transport by coaches activity by specializing in the tourist sector. Day trips through Barcelona and Catalonia, circuits through Spain and Europe, consolidated both companies as referents in the by-bus tourism market in Barcelona.

With a general expansion of tourism, and Barcelona’s consolidation as a tourist destination in the global market, Avant Grup has kept its founders vocation and has managed to keep its leadership in the coach transport sector in Barcelona.