Congress-related tourism in Barcelona to have more than €1.5 billion economic impact

• Barcelona has become one of the leading world capitals in business tourism
• The Barcelona Convention Bureau says there are already 226 confirmed congresses through 2021

2017 and the following years will be excellent for Barcelona when it comes to congresses, fairs and conventions. In this regard, the Catalan capital has been one of the great world capitals of business tourism for several years now. The city makes the most of its global attractiveness, expertise and experience in organizing large-scale events, wide range of hotels and magnificent transportation infrastructure.

This is the prediction of the Barcelona Convention Bureau, which affirms that 2017 will be the best year yet for congresses in Barcelona. Data from Fira de Barcelona confirms this prognosis. In fact, the 120 events (including trade fairs, congresses and meetings) that will take place at the fairgrounds in Gran Via and Hospitalet will welcome more than two million participants. Of these, 75% will be from other countries and 30% from outside of Europe.

Barcelona’s dominance as the preferred location for large global medical events is worth noting. This sector accounts for most of the large congresses to be held in the city over the coming years. In 2017 alone, more than 150,000 specialists from around the world will come to Barcelona for health-related events.

Sources from the Barcelona Convention Bureau say, furthermore, that there are 226 confirmed congresses through 2021. This figure corroborates the fact that the meeting-tourism industry in Barcelona is becoming more and more important. In this regard, these activities are calculated to have a direct impact on the city’s economy of more than €1.5 billion.

For the past 15 years, Barcelona has consistently been among the top 5 cities in Europe in both number of meetings and participants, competing mainly with London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Madrid. The city has been ranked number one in this regard more than once.

[05/22/2017]