Barcelona hotels shoot up prices but maintain occupancy: "We no longer have so many conflictive groups"

BarcelonaThe hotel sector in Barcelona is still on its honeymoon. The city's 450 hotels, with a total of 40,000 rooms on offer, have been breaking their price records for three years in a row. While in 2022 the average price of a hotel room in the Catalan capital was 152 euros – 8.6% more than in 2019, the year before the pandemic – in 2024 this figure has risen to 188 euros, which is 14.1% more than in year 2.

However, this upward trend in room prices, which has led the city's hotel sector to break its record revenues by reaching 2.2 billion euros, has not been accompanied by an increase in occupancy, which has fallen slightly compared to last year, to 80%. "This drop in employment is a consequence of the management that is being done, of the change in segment. We no longer have so many popular or conflictive groups that affect the image of the city," explained this Tuesday the president of the Barcelona Hotel Association, Jordi Clos, accompanied by the general director, Manel Casals, at the now customary press conference to review the beginning of the year.

This drop in occupancy was accentuated in the second half of the year, when it reached 3.44 percentage points compared to the second half of 2023. On the other hand, the price stabilized until reaching an increase of 9.6 euros, which according to the entity is the result of the promotion of spending. However, Clos has said that this increase has been "quite absorbed" by the increase in taxes, salaries and structural management costs.

No impact of the Copa America on employment

Clos has highlighted that at the end of the year the sector has seen an extraordinary development of tourism activity and the MICE sector - acronym in English for meetings, incentives, conventions and events - and that the America's Cup sailing has served to project the image of the city throughout the world, although he has acknowledged that it did not cause an increase.

The arrival of 2025 has stabilized this increase in price, which has been set at 7 euros above that of January of last year, but the president of the Hotel Association has warned that the sector, especially the luxury segment, may suffer the consequences of political and economic turbulence this year. "We do not know how tariffs and mass layoffs in the United States may impact. It is worrying, but we have not yet noticed anything," Clos added.

The owner of the Derby Hotels Collection chain has urged policy makers to "make brave decisions" such as expanding Barcelona airport to attract visitors with greater added value, and has also invited them to reflect on the "somewhat suffocating" taxation that the sector suffers. The Guild has taken the opportunity to present a report prepared by an external consultancy firm that confirms a 24.3% reduction in the sector's water consumption compared to 2022.