outbound markets for tourism‘14 -...

outboundmarkets for tourism‘14

4 foreword 4 Introducing the ACT 5 ACT Marketing Plan 6 The ACT in outbound markets for tourism

6 markets 8 Spain 12 France 16 Italy 20 United Kingdom 25 Germany 29 Austria 32 Switzerland 37 Belgium 40 The Netherlands 44 Nordic countries 48 Russia 52 China 56 Singapore 60 United States 65 Argentina 68 Brazil

72 products vs. markets 74 Catalan coast 78 Getaways 82 Routes 86 Nature, inland, mountains and adventure 90 MICE 94 Special interest holidays

96 appendix: statistics

109 bibliography

110 catalan tourist board offices abroad

table of contents

3table of contents22

fore-word

Catalonia is at the forefront in tourism thanks to the quality of the cultural attrac-tions it offers, its landscape, climate, prices and beaches.

But this is not enough. In a changing world the Catalan tourism sector and Catalonia as a destination must be prepared to meet the new needs of increasingly sophisticated and demanding consumers.

The Tourism Marketing Plan of Catalonia is a tool that will provide responses and guide-lines for the coming years. It is clearly geared to demand and in this regard our network of offices outside Catalonia is constantly work-ing in outbound markets to obtain first-hand input concerning new trends in travel and travellers’ consumption habits. This work will help our tourism industry to become more competitive.

We want to identify opportunities to develop new products for new segments of the tour-ist market and help the sector to renovate it-self. The Marketing Plan identifies new ways of creating value and competing in markets, taking regional balance into account and emphasising the need for greater profes-sionalism in our businesses.

Xavier EspasaDirector of the Catalan Tourist Board

mar-ket-ing plan

The Marking Plan sets out and helps to identify a prod-uct portfolio based on expe-rience.

The structuring of this portfolio into six large product categories and the following work on brands, labels and rankings are the impor-tant challenges posed by the Plan.

The product categories ‘Holidays to enjoy the Mediterranean lifestyle on the Catalan coast’, ‘Getaways to kick back in Catalonia’ and ‘Routes to discover a small country with a great culture’ have been given strategic priority.

The ‘Trips to enjoy nature, adventure, moun-tains and countryside’ and ‘Chances for a different kind of meeting’ product categories will be of high priority.

The recently created product line ‘Special interest holidays’ will be given occasional priority, and will focus on travel to a place to enjoy a very specific leisure activity.

The attractiveness and potential of each product in the outbound markets has been studied in order to develop the best position-ing strategies and better focus promotional campaigns.

Jordi SecallCMO of theCatalan Tourist Board

5introduction4

out-bound mar-kets

Our market strategy ensures our Marketing Plan is geared to demand. The Catalan Tourist Board, with a global network of 12 offices, oper-ates in over 50 countries.

The aim of the Catalan Tourist Board is to work continuously in mature and emerging outbound markets to pursue six key objec-tives:

1. To promote the Catalonia brand and the tourist attractions of Catalonia in different markets, both those where we have offices and those where we do not.

2. To gear promotional work to real demand in each market.

3. To identify the main tourism agents in each market and develop professional links there.

4. To detect new opportunities for promoting and marketing tourism in Catalonia.

5. To study the development of each market and monitor the main tourism indicators.

6. To maintain contact with local media and make efforts to ensure the presence there of our destination.

As well as helping to achieve these goals, the mission of the offices in the network is to constantly monitor trends in demand in each market, providing input which will enable us to define market strategies accordingly.All the offices in the network provide B2B services (linking the Catalan tourism sector and foreign tour operators working with Cat-alonia), except the Madrid office, which also deals directly with tourists.

Every two years the Catalan Tourist Board or-ganises an Outbound Market Workshop.

At this event it offers businesses and institu-tions in the Catalan tourism sector personal consulting services, via B2B encounters with the directors of the offices in the network, to provide guidance and support for their inter-national operations.

More information: www.act.cat

Maria PonsDirector of International Markets

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1 Brussels Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg 2 Helsinki Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia and Iceland 3 Paris France 4 London United Kingdom and Ireland 5 Frankfurt Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland 6 Milan Italy and Israel 7 Moscow Russia and former Soviet republics* 8 Beijing China, Taiwan and Hong Kong 9 New York USA, Canada and Mexico 10 Singapore Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, India, Australia and Korea 11 Madrid Spain and Portugal 12 São Paulo Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Colombia

*Former Soviet republics: Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Catalan Tourist Board offices in other countries

19930

10

20

1997 1998 2006 2011

offices

2012 2014

7introduction6 7

catalan tourist board network of offices outside catalonia

Núria PerichDirector of the Madrid office

Given the current circumstances we face important challenges: we need to organise more aggressive campaigns emphasising value for money and special offers. Today we are dealing with travellers who book at the last moment and are very price conscious. They are experienced tourists with a good knowledge of some parts of Catalonia, who often plan their own trips and visit social net-working sites, where they exchange opinions with other travellers.

Although Catalonia is seen as a quality des-tination, slightly more expensive than other parts of Spain, such as Andalusia or Valen-cia, it is still preferred by a certain type of traveller who appreciates a quality destina-tion and is interested in a variety of attrac-tions, ranging from cultural tourism to sun and beach in well-tended resorts. Catalonia continues to be famous for its great icons: the city of Barcelona, Gaudí, the Roman-esque heritage of Boí Valley, the Costa Brava and the Pyrenees.

spain

General description of the market

The current situation of the Spanish market is overshadowed by the economic crisis and structural financial problems, the recession and an atmosphere of marked economic uncertainty. GDP is expected to decline but more slowly. In the fourth quarter of 2013 the year-on-year variation was -0.1%, with a 1.7% drop in per capita GDP vs. 2012. The Basque country, Navarre and Madrid are the autonomous communities with the highest per capita GDP.

Unemployment stands at 26% of the popula-tion, meaning that nearly six million people have no jobs.

Over 4 million tourists from other parts of Spain visited Catalonia in 2012, 8.2% less than in 2011. The latest figures for the third quarter of 2013 record 3.12 million visitors, a year-on-year drop of 5.0%. Spain is our second-largest market, after Catalonia itself (internal tourism).Tourists from Spain made 120.1 mil-lion trips up to September 2013, 5.2% less than the same period in the previous year. 7.3% of these trips were to foreign countries and 92.7% were inside Spain, showing a generalised decline in travel by Spaniards. The proportion of travellers is highest in the autonomous communities of Madrid (18.5%) and Catalonia (16.4%). The largest proportion travelled by car (85.2%), followed by those who flew (8.9%). The average length of stay for internal tourism was 4.4 nights, and tour-ists spent a total of €28,613 million, 8.5% less than in 2011 (equivalent to €180.30/person/trip and €38.10 per person/day). The most popular activities with Spanish

tourists travelling inside Spain are shopping and visiting relatives/friends.

Activities chosen by Spanish tourists travelling inside Spain (2012)

Source: Familitur.

ShoppingGastronomy

Visiting family/friendsCultural visits

NatureSun and beach

Night lifeSports

53.7%

42.7%

36.8%

29.0%

52.8%

41.8%

34.1%

18.1%

Andalusia is the autonomous community receiving the largest number of internal tourists, while Catalonia is in second place with 22 million.

Most popular destinations with Spanish travellers in 2012, by autonomous community

Source: Familitur, 2012. Autonomous communities visited

Other

Castile and León

Valencia

Catalonia

Andalusia

18.2%

15.2%

11.5%

10%

45.1%

Internal travel by Spanish tourists has fallen since 2009 as a result of the economic crisis, which has led to a substantial fall in demand.

Numbers of visitors arriving in Spanish autonomous communities (millions)

Source: Familitur.

20122011201020092008200720062005

157.0 146.8 155 147.4154.9 157.6 148.6 146.6

8 9markets

Market structure23.4% of Spanish tourists travelling inside Spain make bookings beforehand, while 76.4% do not. 17.9% book accommodation and 6.8% transport. 2.5% of journeys are booked via travel agents. Travel agents in-clude the online eDreams (Odigeo) service and the Globalia and Viajes El Corte Inglés groups.

Transport

There are various options for travelling from the main cities in Spain to Barcelona:

Air links:•Vueling: 18 routes, with a total of 340 flights•AirEuropa: over 60 flights•Iberia: air shuttle

High-speed train (AVE) links: Madrid and Saragossa are the cities with most trains to the four Catalan provincial capitals. The AVE offers economical fares and there are special promotions.

Products

The products preferred by Spanish travellers are:

•Sun and beach family holidays•Activity and nature holidays•Cultural and wine and gastronomy tourism •MICE tourism

spain

Trends and competitive positioningAs a result of the economic crisis, the Span-ish market is in recession: internal demand and tourism reservations are contracting and slowing. This adverse economic background has led to fewer stays in hotels, a reduction in spending and the number of holidays and weekends spent away from home, while the number of trips to visit friends and/or family has risen.

It is believed that people will continue to trav-el but on a smaller scale and paying more attention to prices. Bookings will be made at the last minute.

The strongest competitors in Spain, particu-larly regarding travellers from the autono-mous community of Madrid, are Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha and Valencia. Con-cerning the most popular products, Aragon and Sierra Nevada are the most competitive in snow sports, while Costa de Llevant and Murcia lead in sun and beach, because of their proximity to Madrid, and Castile and León is most popular for nature holidays and inland tourism.

The level of Spanish travellers’ knowledge of Catalonia is medium/high, but there are many areas and products they still have to discover.

Patterns of demandMost Spanish tourists travelling inside Spain use cars (84%), while 5.6% travel by bus, 5% by plane and 4.5% by train.

Online agencies grew slowly (16%), the main portals being eDreams (Odigeo group), Rumbo, Logitravel and Atrapalo. 86% of trav-ellers have access to the Internet. The use of digital resources by consumers is increasing and they seek the opinions of other travellers on social platforms in order to make deci-sions about their own journey.

The largest numbers of visitors from other parts of Spain are expected in the summer months (June - August) and the long week-ends at Easter and the 1st of May.

86% of travellers with Internet access use it daily.

76.4% of Spanish tourists travelling inside Spain do not make bookings beforehand.

10 11markets

General descriptionof the market

France, which recorded record unemploy-ment of 10.9% in 2013, is still the world’s top tourism destination. Tourism is a key eco-nomic indicator and accounted for 7% of GDP, which progressed overall between the third and fourth quarter of 2013. Household consumption of goods increased in the sec-ond half of 2013, although there was a nega-tive trend in the first quarter (-0.4%).

VAT increases are planned for hotels (from 7% to 10%) and passenger transport (from 5% to 7%) in January 2014.

Over 4.1 million French tourists travelled to Catalonia in 2013. The French outbound market accounts for 26.7% of foreign tourists. 16.5% of spending by tourists comes from the French market. Spending per tourist/stay is €560 (+21.2%), equivalent to €79.60 per tourist/day.

Nearly half of the French tourists visiting Spain (43%) come to Catalonia. It is the Spanish destination where spending by tour-ists has increased most in absolute terms, mainly as a result of the contribution of the French market and increased spending by French tourists.

Josefina MarinéDirector of the France office

france60% of French travellers use the Internet to plan their stay and 44% make bookings via the Internet. The growth in online booking has been substantial.

Breakdown of bookings (2011)

Source: Cabinet Raffour / 2012 Edition.

Offline

Online

Catalonia is today the top foreign destination for French people. It is a mature, demanding market and Catalonia’s top outbound market in terms of tourist numbers and spending. They are tourists who organise their holidays individually, are very appreciative of being spoken to in French, who increasingly de-mand good service at a good price. They enjoy good food, have a clear preference for spending their holidays in authentic places with personality and favour sustainable prod-ucts.

In the second half of 2013 the French market was affected by the recession and French tourists made fewer trips abroad as a result. Economic uncertainty and reduced purchas-ing power have led French people to choose holiday destinations in France or very nearby. As a result, Catalonia, a competitive destina-tion which is close to France, has seen an increase in the number of visitors (up 8.9%) and in spending by tourists (23.9%).

The challenge for the future is to develop the loyalty of visitors to Catalonia so that they continue to see it as an attractive destination. We need to prioritise increasing income from tourism and work to improve the visitor’s ex-perience and satisfaction. We must continue to raise awareness of the Catalonia brand and position it as a destination with an impor-tant natural and cultural heritage. In this way we can contribute to the prosperity of Cata-lonia and its tourism industry and focus on attracting value-added French tourism and satisfying the needs of visitors from France.

French tourists: cumulative year-on-year change (%)

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

JAN13

MAR13

MAY13

SEPT13

JUL13

NOV13

FEB13

APR13

JUN13

OCT13

AUG13

DEC13

NumbersSpending

The most important motives for French travellers are sun and beach and interesting routes.

Breakdown of journeys by reason for travelling (2010)

Source: THR based on European Travel Monitor.

Other

Nature

Countryside

Getaways/city breaks

Routes

Sun and beach

34.9%5.1%

10.1%

13.2%

26.8%

9.9%

The number of journeys made annually by French tourists in Europe has remained constant at around 26 million in recent years.

Tourists arriving in European destinations (millions)

Source: Tourism Economics.

2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

24.6 26.8 26.2 26.526.5 26.3 26.5 27.3

12 13markets

france

Market structureIn the French market there are few intermedi-aries dealing with Catalonia because of our geographical proximity. Only 3.5% of French visitors contracted a package. The market share of online agencies has grown at the expense of traditional agencies, who are suf-fering from a global structural and liquidity crisis.

The French market does, however, have a number of other intermediaries: works com-mittees, mutual benefit societies, hypermar-kets, associations and gift boxes.

Transport

Barcelona-El Prat Airport accounts for 96.8% of flights (292 in high season and 232 in low season). The outlook is good, given the new high-speed train services which link 13 cities in France with 3 in Catalonia. The SNCF ex-pects to carry a million passengers on these lines.French visitors arriving in Catalonia travel by: •Air: 23.1%•Sea: 0.7%•Train: 0.6%•Own vehicle: 75.7%

Products

French tourists are looking for getaways and holidays that allow them to disconnect from everyday life and enjoy nature and the beach. They are also great consumers of cul-tural products.

Consumer opinion is led by traditional me-dia and online communication. It is a highly segmented market, in which tourists use the Internet as their first source of information

when planning a trip. The other main source of information is travel guides. There are five major publishers:

•Hachette Tourisme•Michelin Cartes & Guides•Lonely Planet•Gallimard•Petit Futé

Magazine supplements also play an impor-tant role. In a typical French home these are likely to be kept for three to four years.In a market with 40.2 million Internet users, online sales and marketing channels have a strong presence. Users may compare infor-mation from six or more websites. The main groups of tourist information websites are:

Publishers’ websites: Routard, Petit Futé and Lonely Planet.Comparative websites: Easyvoyage, Kayak, Cheapflights, Travelsupermarket and Voy-agermoinscher.Websites with user opinions: TripAdvisor and Zoover.Sites using newsletters to help users find and compare good deals: Travelzoo and Planeta-zoo.Social networks and communities: Face-book, Easyvoyage, Google+.

The main online travel portals: voyages-sncf.com, Odigeo (eDreams, Opodo), Voyage-prive.com, Lastminute.com.

It is also interesting to note the rapid growth and potential of tourism apps for mobiles.

Patterns of demandFrench tourists account for 17.4% of the oc-cupation of Catalan hotel establishments. In 2012:

•50.9% stayed in hotels or similar establish-ments

•26.9% had free accommodation (own property, with friends)

•13% stayed in rented accommodation•9.1% stayed in other accommodation

(campsites, caravans, rural tourism ac-commodation)

The school calendar divides France in three large areas with five holiday periods includ-ing summer and Christmas. School holidays are used for family getaways outside the usu-al holiday periods (summer, Christmas and Easter).

There is also a two-week holiday period at Christmas and the months of July and Au-gust in summer.

Trends and competitive positioning In 2013 we benefited from the unstable situ-ation in the eastern Mediterranean and the weakness of the French economy, which encouraged tourism in nearby destinations. 2014 is also expected to be a good year for tourism in Catalonia.

French tourists look for authentic places with personality to visit. There is great potential for family holidays (because of the high birth rate) and travel for seniors.

Our main competitors are France itself, in all products and segments, and, because of their proximity, Italy, Benelux, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, plus the other autonomous communities in Spain, especially the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Andalusia.Our competitors, by product, are as follows:

•Ski, active, nature holidays and rural tour-ism: Italy, Switzerland, Andorra, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque country, Castile and León.

•City breaks: the main European capitals.•Sun and beach tourism: Italy, Greece, Mo-

rocco, Tunisia, Portugal, Croatia, the Do-minican Republic and Malaysia.

•Cultural tourism: Italy, the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe, Greece and Egypt.

•Seniors: Italy, Tunisia, Morocco, Andorra and the rest of Spain.

People’s knowledge of Catalonia is gener-ally good, because of proximity and shared history, but they have difficulty identifying all the different Catalan tourism brands. French people are most familiar with the Costa Bra-va, Barcelona and the Costa Daurada. The Barcelona and Barça brands are well positioned, as are Dalí, Gaudí and Miró as icons.

France has 40 million Internet users who regularly use online channels to book and pay for travel.

14 15markets


Italy has a population of over 60 million, with year-on-year GDP of -0,8%, unemployment of 10.7%, VAT at 22%, per capita income of €26,000 and a tax rate of 47.6%.

Spain is the top foreign destination for long holidays among Italian tourists and Catalo-nia is the autonomous community visited by most Italian tourists. With 1,106,221 tourists, Italy is in fourth place, after France, the Unit-ed Kingdom and Germany.

The average length of stay was 5.5 days and spending was 7% lower than in 2012.

Marta TeixidorDirector of the Italy office

Catalonia is the top destination for Italians visiting Spain, so we are obliged to work con-stantly to position, reinforce and differentiate the Catalonia brand among Italians. The on-line channel is a top priority, as over 73% of Italian tourists organise their visit to Catalonia independently via the Internet. This is a new development.

It is also important to consider the diversi-fication of known destinations in Catalonia, to promote cultural routes designed for dif-ferent types of visitor, and to attract different types of potential tourists, such as seniors and families.

Catalonia has many attractions for Italian visitors and they need to be emphasised: it is seen as a safe, easy destination by in-dependent tourists, because of its cultural proximity and the varied attractions avail-able, which fit in well with Italian tastes.

They have a very positive image of Barce-lona and the Costa Brava and access is easy by air, sea or road. Catalonia competes very well with holidays in Italy itself, offering lower prices and good value.

italy

1.3 million Italian tourists came to Catalonia in 2011, but their favourite destination is France, with over 8 million visitors.

Numbers, growth and forecast for visits to main destinations (millions)

Source: IET and Tourism Economics.*Cumulative growth forecast for 2011-2015.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 8.1 8.2 7.8 7.8 7.7 7.7 -0.2%Total Spain 2.6 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.1 -3.3%Germany 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 -2.0%United Kingdom 1.6 1.6 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.6 +10.3%Catalonia 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.3 – –

36.6% of Italians travel without booking beforehand, while 38.3% book their trips online.


Source: ISTAT 2013.

No previous booking

Booking via an intermediary

Direct online booking

Direct offline booking

Over 80% of international travel by Italians is motivated by sun and beach, routes and city breaks.



Other

Wellness/health

Nature


Sun and beach

Routes

31.1%

30.3%

22.0%

3.1%2.8%

10.7%

Since 2009 the number of Italians visiting Catalonia has shown a positive trend and it is hoped that by 2015 numbers will return to 2008 levels (before the crisis).



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

20.2 21.9 21.2 21.921.5 22.5 21.8 22.5

16 17markets

italy

Market structureCatalonia is a destination that receives lit-tle attention in the brochures of the 13 tour operators who account for 75% of the Italian market; networks of travel agencies are very well established in the country.

Transport

Currently there are air links between 18 Ital-ian airports and Barcelona: 172 flights a week at present, rising to 252 in high sea-son. Girona Airport has links with 8 Italian air-ports; Ryanair currently operates 16 flights a week, rising to 33 a week in high season.

Most Italian tourists (77.5%) fly to Catalonia, while 14% travel by sea and 8.2% come by road.

Products

Italian tourists are looking for the following products:

• Sun and beach tourism• City breaks • Cultural tourism

We can identify the following emerging prod-ucts:

• Senior tourism• Tourism for schools• Religious tourism

Patterns of demandWhen Italian tourists travel abroad their ac-commodation preferences are as follows:

• Hotels: 67.3% (3-4 stars)• Relatives and friends: 10.5%• Apartments: 12.3%• Campsites: 3.9%• Bed & Breakfasts: 6%

78% of Italians use the Internet (mobile phones and/or computers) to find informa-tion about holidays: 63% book their holidays without intermediaries or directly via the In-ternet and 43% have bought tourism prod-ucts via the Internet in the last 12 months, mostly plane tickets and hotel bookings.

There is considerable Internet penetration in Italy (36% of the population) and Facebook has 24 million users. 13 million of them log on every day and 16 million use mobiles and/or tablets for Internet access.

There are a number of travel publications in the Italian market:

• Corriere de la Sera, Italy’s most popular newspaper, has a weekly travel section.

• Il Sole 24 Ore is the country’s leading publication on economics and contains a travel section.

• Guida Viaggi: trade journal, with a strong presence in travel agencies.

• Travel Quotidiano: trade review which also organises workshops.

• Qui Touring: Touring Club Italiano tourism review. Mid/upper range target audience.

• Turismo all’aria aperta: travel magazine for tourists who like open-air holidays at campsites and in camper vans.

The Internet and social networks have a strong presence in the Italian market and are used actively for travel.

Italian school holidays are very similar to ours: Christmas, Easter and the summer.

63% of Italians book their holidays online.

Trends and competitive positioningAs a result of the current economic crisis, people’s visits are shorter and they stay in more economical accommodation. For the same reason there is a clear preference for nearby destinations. Nevertheless, the num-ber of Italians spending their holidays abroad is increasing and demand is becoming less seasonalised.

There is increased use of the Internet to find information about destinations and more people are making last-minute bookings (from 2 months to 8 days in advance). The main tour operators are setting up direct on-line sales channels.

Catalonia’s main competitors are as follows:

• Sun and beach tourism: Italy, Egypt, France, Greece and Croatia.

• Nature holidays: Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France.

• Cultural tourism/city breaks: Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Catalonia is associated above all with Barce-lona and the Costa Brava and is seen as an ‘easy’ sun and beach destination with cultur-al attractions and interesting cities and one offering good value for money.

18 19markets


GDP in the third quarter of 2013 was 0.8% higher than in the second quarter. The larg-est contribution to GDP growth came from the service, leisure and culture sector. At De-cember 2013, the consumer price index had risen 2.1% during the year. Unemployment was 7.1%, i.e. there were 2,320,000 people out of work, a drop of 172,000 people.

The exchange rate was 1 EUR = 0.832 GBP on 31 December 2013.

British tourists are Spain’s top outbound mar-ket, accounting for 23.7% of visitors, a year-on-year increase of 0.3%.

1,685,323 British tourists came to Catalo-nia, 10.8% of the total number of tourists, spending an average of 6.1 days here. An-nual spending rose by 8.7% in 2012, totalling 1,218,026.595 euros.

Vicenç CapdevilaDirector of the UK office

In 2013, 1,685,323 tourists from the United Kingdom visited Catalonia, 4.9% more than the preceding years, with an increase in spending of 4.3%. All-inclusive packages have become more popular since the crisis began. A curious feature is the tendency for British tourists to organise weddings and stag/hen nights abroad.

British tourists like Catalonia because they see it as a destination offering good value for money. It has a mild, pleasant climate, excellent beaches, attractive surroundings and many additional attractions such as cul-ture and gastronomy. Barcelona is still the brand best known to British tourists and the one they like most. Our commitment should be to go on working to position the Catalonia brand, encourage tourists to visit other parts of Catalonia and consolidate it as a leading multi-product and family holiday destination. To achieve these goals it is fundamental to go on strengthening our presence on the In-ternet and in social networks.

Lastly, it should be noted that British tour-ists appreciate ecological tourism and envi-ronmental sustainability will very soon be a differentiating factor in demand for tourism products.

united kingdom

1.3 million British tourists came to Catalonia in 2011 and Spain was their favourite destination, with over 13.5 million visitors.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*Total Spain 16.3 15.8 13.3 13.4 13.5 15.1 +11.3%France 13.8 13.1 11.2 10.9 11.2 11.7 +4.9%Italy 4.4 3.8 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.8 +9.9%Ireland 4.4 4.2 3.7 3.2 3.2 3.7 +15.4%Catalonia 2.3 2.2 1.6 1.3 1.3 – –

Almost half of British tourists contact the supplier in their destination directly when booking their holidays.

Breakdown of bookings

Source: Flash Eurobarometer reports.

Directly with supplier at destination

Offline travel agencies and tour

operators

Online

No previous booking

The most important motives for British travellers are sun and beach and city breaks.



Other

Countryside

Nature

Routes


Sun and beach

19.7% 38.0%

17.4%

8.5%

9.9%

6.5%

There are some signs of recovery in travel to Europe but it is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels before 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

55.6 57.9 47.6 48.457.0 55.2 47.3 53.9

20 21markets

Market structureIn the British market there are few intermedi-aries dealing with Catalonia and 60% of tour-ists do not use a service of this kind.

Tour operators include TUI & First Choice, Thomas Cook, Jet2holidays, Cosmos and Co-operative Travel, and online agencies (Expedia (the market leader), TripAdvisor, Cendant, Lastminute, Lowcostgroup and Travel Republic) have a 20% market share.

Transport

The means of transport used by UK visitors to Catalonia are as follows:• Air: 93.3%• Sea: 0.7%• Private car: 5.6%• Train: 0.3%

Flights to Catalonia in the winter season 2013/2014:

Barcelona, winter 2013• easyJet: 93 flights per week• British Airways: 81 flights per week• Ryanair: 44 flights per week• Monarch: 25 flights per week• Vueling: 19 flights per week• Aer Lingus: 18 flights per week• Norwegian: 3 flights per week

Girona, winter 2013• Ryanair: 46 flights per week

Reus, winter 2013• Ryanair: 29 flights per week• Thomson Airways: 17 flights per week• Thomas Cook: 12 flights per week• Jet2: 5 flights per week

Products

The most popular products among visitors from the UK are:

• Sun and beach tourism• Family holidays• City breaks• MICE tourism

Emerging products: • Cruise tourism• Senior tourism• Sustainable tourism

Publications aimed at the tourism sector in-clude TTG, Travelmole and Travel Weekly (for the industry) and Lonely Planet Maga-zine (for end consumers). The following also deal with travel:

• Mail on Sunday: national daily paper with travel section.

• Time Out: magazine with travel section.• Guardian.co.uk/travel: website.• LBC Travel Show: radio programme deal-

ing with travel.

Patterns of demand70% of British travellers stay at hotels or sim-ilar establishments, the average stay being four days.

Internet use is widespread and 78% of jour-neys are organised in this way. This trend is increasing. User figures are as follows:

• Facebook (37.4 million)• YouTube (32.1 million)• Twitter (15.5 million)• LinkedIn (7.9 million)• Flickr (6.7 million)

School holidays in the UK are spread throughout the year, with a month and a half in summer. Trends and

competitive positioningBritish tourists are looking for an authentic experience. It is interesting to note the rise of the all-inclusive product, which is chosen by 37.1% of travellers. It provides better con-sumer protection and smaller deposits have to be paid on booking. Travellers are tending to reduce the number of days they spend on holiday and are very price conscious.

British tourists use social forums and smart-phones to prepare their trips.

Catalonia’s main competitors are France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.

British tourists have a good knowledge of the Catalonia brand and the Costa Brava, Costa Daurada and Barcelona brands, but are much less knowledgeable about other brands and products. They are loyal to the brand and report a high level of satisfaction.

united kingdom

78% of trips are organised using the Internet.

22 23markets


Germany is Catalonia’s third-largest out-bound market, after France and the United Kingdom, with a total of 1,277,900 visitors, an increase of 9.9% on the previous year.

In 2012 the German market experienced economic growth of 0.7% and forecasts for 2013 point to an increase in GDP of 0.6% and an unemployment level of 6.8% (2.9 mil-lion out of work).

Inflation was 2.0% and consumption rose by 1.6%. Exports increased by 4.1% while im-ports rose by 2.3%.

Total spending by tourists in Catalonia in 2013 was 988.8 million euros, 7.5% higher than in the previous year.

Approximately 1 million German tourists come to Catalonia each year but their favourite destination is France, with over 12 million visitors.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 13.0 11.6 11.1 11.5 11.8 12.7 +7.7%Italy 9.9 9.8 9.5 9.7 10.0 10.1 +0.9%Total Spain 10.1 10.1 8.9 8.7 9.0 9.8 -8.9%Austria 7.0 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4 7.3 -1.4%Catalonia 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.0 - -

Montserrat SierraDirector of the Central Europe office

In this area it is important to distinguish be-tween countries with a long tradition of tourism (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) and those where travel has started more recently (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia).

The former are experienced tourists who know the Catalonia brand well, especially Barcelona and the Costa Brava. In these countries, our main objectives for the future are to continue raising awareness of our country and to try to stimulate interest in other geographical areas, maintain the number of visits and average level of spending, attracting visitors with greater pur-chasing power and deseasonalising tourism.

Tourists from these countries plan their holidays thoroughly and see Catalonia as a leading des-tination.

Travellers from the second group of countries have much less experience and there is not such a tradition of travel; their economies are less stable and there may be pronounced im-balances between them. Nevertheless, they are new markets with potential for growth, where travel is becoming a need rather than a luxury. Barcelona is the best-known brand, fol-lowed by the Costa Brava. We should take ad-vantage of this market to promote other parts of the country and other popular products, such as activity, shopping and ski holidays.

centraleurope

germanycentral europe

germanyaustriaswitzerland

43% of German tourists use tour operators and offline travel agencies when booking travel.


Source: RA 2011.

43%

26%

14%

13%

0 10 3020 40

Offline travel agencies and tour operators

Directly with owners of accommodation

Internet/portal

Direct transport bookings

The most important motives for German travellers are sun and beach and nature.



Other

Wellness/health

Routes


Nature

Sun and beach

23.2%

5.0%

7.2%

13.4% 18.0%

33.2%

The number of journeys to Europe by Germans is recovering after the crisis and is expected to reach 72 million by 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

68.9 70.4 66.1 68.868.2 68.5 67.0 72.8

24 25markets

Market structure TUI, Touristik Rewe Group and Thomas Cook are Germany’s leading tour operators, with a market share of over 50%.

The main online portals for hotel bookings are HRS, with a 34.4% market share, Book-ing.com, with 28.5%, and Hotel.de, with 15.85%.

The major tour operators account for over 50% of the market. The chart shows the main tour operators in the German market.

Breakdown of market share (%)

Other

Schaunisland Reisen

Aida Cruises

FTI (incl. Big Extra)

Alltours

Thomas Cook

Der Touristic

TUI Deutschland

Revenue (million euros)Customers (thousands)

1,0000 3,000 5,000 7,0002,000 4,000 6,000 8,000

Main online hotel booking portals in Germany (% market share)

34.4

15.8

4.1

1.4

1.1

28.5

9.9

2.1

1.2

0.50.5

HRSBooking.com

Hotel.deOther

ExpediaHotels.com

VenereUnister

Lastminute.comeBay

eBookers

Transport

Currently there are 295 direct flights from 13 German airports to Catalonia:•Barcelona: 240 flights (since March 2013

Vueling has flown to Barcelona from Frank-furt, Hanover, Dresden, Stuttgart, Düssel-dorf and Dortmund).

•Girona: 46 flights.•Reus: 9 flights.

Products

The main products consumed by German tourists are: •Sun and beach tourism: 22%•Family holidays: 14%•Relaxing getaways: 12%•Visiting family and friends: 9%•Activity holidays: 8%

Products

The main products consumed by German tourists are: sun and beach tourism (22%), family holidays (14%), relaxing getaways (12%), visiting family and friends (9%) and activity holidays (8%).

22

14

22%

14%

12%

9%

8%

7%

6%

5%

4%

4%

3%

2%

2%

2%

129

8

7

6

5

44

3 2 2 2

Cultural travel

Sightseeing

Nature

Relaxation

Other

Health

Tours

Activity

Family holidays

Study

Festivities

Experiences

Visiting family and friends

Sun and beach

In general the sale of newspapers has fallen (4% for local papers and 2.7% for others) and over 50% of Germans read some kind of online news.

The main German newspapers are: Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allge-meine Zeitung and Die Welt. There are also 10 supra-regional and 315 regional and local newspapers. Lonely Planet’s Traveller maga-zine has recently appeared on the market.

Other journals to be borne in mind are:ADACGeo Spezial

Patterns of demand76% of visitors come to Catalonia by air and 23% in private cars. 55% of tourists choose hotels and guesthouses for their accommo-dation, while 19% prefer holiday homes and apartments. In 2012 the average length of stay was 10.3 days, slightly less than the fig-ure for the previous year.

Means of transportt

23.0%

76.1%

0.6% 0.2%

Train

Sea

Air

Own vehicle

Accommodation

Campsites

Boarding houses

Holiday homesand apartmentsHotels and hostels

55%

19%

5%

5%

16%

In 2012 the average length of stay by German tourists was 10.3 days, while the average for the previous year was 10.5 days.

Source: Reiseanalyse 2013, Erste Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der 43.

When organising travel:

•85% of Germans use opinion portals (es-pecially HolidayCheck and TripAdvisor)

•64% use tour operator portals•61% use online agencies •38% follow the recommendations of friends

and family•35% are guided by magazines and bro-

chures •23% use traditional agencies•17% use social networks

In 2012, 53% of bookings were made via on-line tour operators and 26% via conventional tour operators and travel agencies.

56% of German tourists use Internet during their holidays, uploading photos, posting comments or looking for information about local attractions and activities (35%).

In Germany, school holidays and conse-quently family holidays are at different times in the summer months depending on each land. As a result, the arrival of German visi-tors is staggered, with most arriving between June and September.

germanycentral europe26 27markets

Trends and competitive positioningGenerally speaking, there is a tendency for tourists to shorten their stays in our country. 40% are interested in ecological and sus-tainable holidays. Despite the crisis, 76% believe their holiday plans will not be af-fected, although 9% will cut spending, 4% will shorten their holidays and 5% will not go away.

Spain, with a 13% market share, is the most popular destination among Germans, fol-lowed by Italy. We anticipate a certain in-crease in the number of visitors and greater demand for customised travel.

Source: FUR Reiseanalyse 2013.

Competitors

Most popular destinations among Germans in 2012

13.0%

7.3%

2.9% 2.8% 1.9%

8.4%

5.5%

1.9% 1.6%

Spain Italy Turkey Austria Croatia France Greece Netherlands Denmark

Countries competing with Catalonia include Italy, Turkey and Austria. Knowledge of Catalonia varies, depending on each land, but in general the Barcelona, Costa Brava, Costa Daurada and Pirineus tourism brands are well known and have a strong presence in the German market.


The Austrian economy grew by 3.1% during the year. Per capita income rose by 2.1% to €35,790. The number of unemployed was 179,000, a fall of 9,000 compared with the previous year. The country appears to be emerging from recession quite quickly, as GDP and exports are growing and unem-ployment is falling.

Spain is the fourth most-popular summer hol-iday destination for Austrians. It was chosen by 8% of travellers, most of whom came in the third quarter. Austrians have not felt the effects of the crisis as much as those in other countries, so quality remains an important consideration.

After a period of decline in the number of Austrians visiting Spain, there has been a steady increase since 2011. In 2013 Catalo-nia was visited by 171,600 Austrian tourists, 1.8% more than in 2012.

Total spending there in 2013 was 339.2 mil-lion euros, 8.71% more than in 2012.

austriacentral europe

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*Italy 2.5 3.1 3.4 3.5 3.4 3.0 -10.0%Germany 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 -1.6%Crotia 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0 -15%France 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 -0.5%Catalonia 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 – –

Between 100,000 and 200,000 Austrians visit Catalonia each year. The top destination in the Austrian market is Italy, with over 3 million tourists.


Source: IET and Tourism Economics. *Cumulative growth forecast for 2011-2015.

40% are interested in ecological and sustainable holidays.

The number of journeys made annually by Austrian tourists in Europe has remained constant at around 9.6 million in recent years.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

7.9% 8.3% 9.6% 9.6%8.4% 9.2% 9.7% 9.7%

The most important motives for Austrian travellers are sun and beach and city breaks.



Other

Nature

Countryside

Routes


Sun and beach

39.6%15.6%

4.0%

5.9%

16.9%

18.0%

28 29markets

Products Tourism products in demand

Activities chosen by Austrian tourists and number of nights spent in Catalonia in 2011 (%)

Destination 1-3 nights over 4 nights TotalSun and beach holidays 9.4 25.7 20.9Activity holidays 11.7 11.6 11.6Relaxing getaways 15.6 17.2 16.7Beauty treatment 4.3 1.3 2.2Health treatments 0.8 0.5 0.6Visiting family and friends 17.6 14.2 15.2Courses/training 0.9 1.9 1.6Cultural visits 31.1 24.4 26.4Shopping 0.5 0.5 0.5Events 5.4 1 2.3Other 2.7 1.6 1.9

Most Austrian tourists (59.7%) travelling pri-vately stayed in hotels. In the case of busi-ness travel, hotel accommodation accounted for 86.7% of nights spent in Catalonia.

Internet use is widespread: 78.7% of house-holds went online during the last three months of 2012. 50.5% of these visits were to obtain information about offers and services related to tourism.

Market structure61% of Austrian tourists organise their trips independently and they regularly use the Internet to buy tickets and book accommo-dation. Typically these tourists are aged be-tween 24 and 35 and travel to cities.

Transport

The state airline AUA has two flights a day to Barcelona and plans to increase the number to three in the summer season. Other com-panies flying from Austria are: Flyniki (every day) and Vueling (weekly).

Flyniki has its hub in Palma de Mallorca and from there it flies to other European cities.

Other regular airlines that provide a service but do not operate from any airports in Aus-tria are Lufthansa and Swiss Air. These com-panies operate from Munich and Zurich, cit-ies through which many Austrians go when they travel. There are 35 flights a week from Vienna.

Tourists arriving in European destinations

Most popular international holiday destinations among Austrians

Destination 2010 % 2011 % Chge. 10/11 %Italy 1,772.4 20.5 1,817.4 22.3 1.8Germany 1,285.5 15.3 1,300.0 15.9 0.6Croatia 857.0 10.2 1,011.0 12.4 2.2Spain 554.5 6.6 528.6 6.5 -0,1Total 8,402.0 100.0 8,153.8 100.0 -2.3

Most popular international holiday destina-tions among Austrians:

•Italy•Germany•Croatia•Spain

Austrian homes with computers and Internet access

Source: Statistik Austria, 2012.

Access to InternetComputers

ViennaTyrol

SalzburgLower Austria

BurgenlandUpper Austria

StyriaCarinthiaVoralberg

Most short visits by Austrians were between May and September, while stays longer than four nights were concentrated in the school holidays, in July and August.

The most popular months for business trips are April, May and June.

Austrian visitors to Spain are mainly interest-ed in sun and beach holidays, with cultural products in second place.

Tendències

61% of Austrian tourists organise their trips independently.

Trends and competitive positioningThe main reason for visiting Spain was lei-sure and holiday travel (81.7%), followed by business trips (18.2%).

Generally speaking, visitor numbers are ex-pected to rise. Demand from Austrian tourists visiting Spain focuses mainly on the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Canary Islands and Andalusia. There is a clear predominance of visitors with medium-high purchasing power and a growing interest in culture.

Catalonia’s main competitors are Italy, Ger-many, Croatia, Turkey, Greece, France and the United Kingdom, followed by the other autonomous communities in Spain.

The main attractions for Austrian visitors are the regional attractions of the whole of Spain, the language, culture and big cities like Bar-celona.

austriacentral europe30 31markets


Swiss GDP rose by 2.6% in 2011, a rising trend supported by banking, insurance, IT, real estate and research and development. Per capita GDP in 2010 was 70,000 CHF. Regarding other economic indicators, unem-ployment stood at around 3.4% and inflation was approximately 4%.

Swiss tourists visiting Spain, 1998-2011

Source: IET, Frontur.

Thousands of tourists

% chge.(year-on-year)

% change total no.foreign tourists

arriving in Spain

1998 1,251 +9.6 +9.71999 1,203 -3.8 +7.82000 1,198 -0.4 -2.42001 1,233 +2.9 +4.62002 1,223 -0.8 +4.52003 1,043 -14.7 +0.32004 1,080 +3.5 +3.42005 1,155 +9.7 +2.12006 1,380 +19.5 +2.42007 1,376 -0.1 +1.12008 1,287 -6.5 -2.32009 1,141 -11.3 -8.72010 1,157 +2.6 +1.02011 1,373 +18.7 +2.4

In 2013 Catalonia was visited by 397,100 Swiss tourists, 4.5% less than in 2012. Spending in Catalonia 2013 was 339.2 mil-lion euros, 5.08% more than in the previous year. The most popular destinations for Swiss travellers are neighbouring countries, while Spain is in fifth place.

Number of journeys involving overnight stays in tourist accommodation, by destination (thousands)

Source: BFS, Reiseverhalten 2008.

Destination 2003 2008% chge.

2003-2008 % of total

Total 17,872 20,069 +12% 100%Switzerland 9,097 8,922 -2% 44.5%Germany 1,503 2,776 +85% 13.8%Austria 524 825 +58% 4.1%Italy 1,859 1,691 -9% 8.4%France 1,767 1,863 +5% 9.3%Spain 557 731 +31% 3.6%Rest of Europe 1,470 1,977 +34% 9.9%Rest of world 943 1,268 +34% 6.3%Unknown 152 16 0.1%

Moderate growth in European destinations is expected in the coming years with Spain, Turkey, Greece and Italy taking the lead.

There is great diversity in the channels used to book travel, although almost 40% of Swiss book via direct contact with the accommodation provider.


Accommodation provider

Travel agency websiteIndependent travel

agenciesTravel agencies affiliated

with tour operatorsTour operator websites

Other

39%

16%

11%

11%

11%

9%

The Swiss market is mature and stable and its development depends more on internal factors than external (conflict affecting the economic situation). The profile of the typi-cal Swiss tourist is a person aged between 25 and 44 (45%) or 45 and 66 (28.8%) who works and travels with a partner, alone or with the family. Retired people account for 10.3% of Swiss travellers.

40% of Swiss contact the accommodation provider directly when booking.

switzerlandcentral europe

France is the most popular destination for Swiss travellers, with 5.6 million visitors. Catalonia was visited by 1.3 million tourists in 2011.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 5.3 5.1 4.8 1.8 1.9 5.6 -15.0%Italy 2.9 2.5 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.5 +7.4%Germany 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.2 +12.1%Total Spain 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.5 +19.9%Catalonia 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 – –

The most important motives for Swiss travellers are sun and beach and city breaks.



Other

Nature

Routes

Countryside


Sun and beach

33.4%15.6%

3.8%

11.7%

13.3%22.2%

The trend in Swiss travel to Europe is positive: it is estimated that in 2015 the number of tourists will exceed 17 million.

Tourists arriving in European destinations (thousands)


2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

12.514.6 14.0 14.914.0 13.9 14.3

17.1

32 33markets

Patterns of demandThe majority of Swiss tourists arrived by air (86.7%), while 12.7% arrived by road. 64.3% stayed at hotels or similar establishments. Significant percentages own property, have time shares or stay in private homes (with family or friends).

A total of 690,615 people stayed at Spanish hotels in 2011, spending a total of 3,111,393 nights.

93% of Swiss homes have access to the Internet, which suggests that they use new technologies extensively when preparing trips. The websites visited most frequently are hotel chains, the portals of the destina-tion and general travel portals.

Summer is the period when most travel takes place, coinciding with the school holidays. These last five weeks but there are other short breaks during the year so that travel is possible at a variety of times during the year.

White Week (February)Easter (10 days)October holiday (two weeks)

The main reason for travelling abroad is pleasure (83.1%), followed by business (8.4%) and personal reasons. Tourists choose Spain because of the range of activi-ties it offers.

easyJet

Air Berlin

Swiss

Iberia

TUIfly

Flybaboo

Skywork

Vueling

Capacity of airline companies 2002-2012

20122011201020092008200720062005200420032002

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

Market share 2012

Source: Spanish Tourist Information Office in Zurich, based on data from airports.

Skywork

TUIfly

Air Europa

Vueling

Iberia

Air Berlin

easyJet

Swiss

36%

29%

13%

10%

5%3% 2% 2%

What Swiss tourists are looking for are cul-tural activities, such as visits to museums and monuments, entertainment, shopping and clubs, and also activities related to gas-tronomy and sport, plus visits to family and friends.

The types of trip most popular with Swiss travellers are city trips, sun and beach, and visits to friends and relatives.

Type of trip (-2 not important / +2 important)

Source: RMS 2007.

City trip

s

Frien

ds an

d fam

ily

Family

events

Even

tsSn

ow

Sun a

nd be

ach

Health

/welln

ess

Study

Tours

Other

Cruise

s

Spain

Average for country

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1.0

-1.2

Trends and competitive positioningThe areas where there is scope for growth are city trips, cruises, gastronomy, the coun-tryside, health and beauty, events and cel-ebrations. In the sun and beach segment we need to build loyalty. There is great poten-tial for making attractions available at other times of year, encouraging visitors to make city trips, take short breaks, go shopping, at-tend concerts, etc.

Satisfaction with the destination (data for Spain) Satisfaction with the destination (-1 not satisfied / +1 satisfied)

Source: RMS 2007.

Overall satisfaction with the trip

Satisfaction with what is available at the destination

Satisfaction with accommodation

Austria 0.90 0.79 0.78Italy 0.87 0.69 0.71Germany 0.86 0.74 0.75France 0.80 0.62 0.56Spain 0.80 0.65 0.61Turkey 0.74 0.46 0.75Egypt 0.64 0.62 0.66Average 0.85 0.67 0.69

Number of journeys involving overnight stays in tourist accommodation, by destination (thousands)

Source: BFS.* South-eastern Europe: Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia.** South-western Europe: Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar.

Destination Total Year-on-year changeSwitzerland 6,584 4.4%Germany 1,911 7.7%Austria 763 10.2%Italy 2,060 7.6%France 1,267 8.8%South-eastern Europe* 844 11.2%South-western Europe** 860 9.9%Rest of Europe 1,000 10.0%Rest of world 1,280 7.7%Unknown 7 100%

There are no reliable data for the image of Spain or Catalonia in the Swiss market, but it seems that a high percentage of people who travel have been to Spain, with a good level of satisfaction in general.

Market structureMost Swiss tourists prefer to book accommo-dation by phone (75%) but only 18% do this when travelling to Spain, Internet being the most popular method in this case (22%).

While most Swiss travellers prefer to buy tick-ets in person, 45% choose to use the Inter-net when they travel to Spain. In the case of destinations on the Mediterranean coast, the figure rises to 62%.

Booking channels: tourism packages

Source: RMS.

Total Spain Switzerland

Phone 34% 29% 24%In person 28% 35% 16%By letter 9% 3% 23%Fax 3% 2% 3%E-mail 10% 14% 12%Online/Internet 10% 13% 6%Other 2% 2% 5%Not specified 4% 2% 12%

Booking channels: accommodation

Source: RMS.

Total Spain Switzerland

Phone 75% 18% 38%In person 8% 11% 8%By letter 6% 2% 9%Fax 3% 6% 2%E-mail 13% 16% 10%Online/Internet 12% 23% 7%Other 2% 1% 1%Not specified 27% 20% 26%

77% of Swiss tourists travel without any kind of package, although the use of this option has increased by 12.2%. However, it would be more accurate to refer to organised travel for individual tourists, without intermediar-ies, rather than traditional package holidays. 84% travel without the assistance of travel agencies, although they may turn to tradi-tional agencies for longer, more expensive trips, which include those to Spain.

switzerlandcentral europe34 35markets


GDP in Belgium has risen slightly (+0.1%) with per capita GDP at €29,617. Unem-ployment currently stands at 8.1% and the increase in the consumer price index was 1.1%.

515,905 tourists visited Catalonia staying for an average of 9 nights. Spending per person was €799, generating a total of €411,709,027.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 8.6 8.6 8.0 8.1 8.4 8.6 +2.9%Total Spain 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 +7.1%United Kingdom 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.1 1.2 +2.4%Italy 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.0 -7%Catalonia 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 – –

Inma BallestínDirector of the Benelux office

Over 700,000 Belgian and Dutch tourists visit us each year, a substantial number consid-ering their small populations. Moreover, the average length of stay is nearly 10 nights. Catalonia is visited by 25.6% of Belgian and Dutch tourists who come to Spain. Both beach resorts and the Barcelona brand have a strong attraction for Belgian and Dutch tour-ists who visit us. Mountain areas are not yet well known to these travellers, making them a product that should be developed, bearing in mind that Belgian and Dutch people are very keen on activity and nature holidays.

In the years to come our aim should be to raise awareness of other areas away from the coast, and to distribute the arrival of tour-ists more evenly during the year and over the whole country. At present most tourists come with their families during the school holidays.

beneluxbelgiumthe netherlandsluxembourg

belgiumbenelux



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

16.9% 17.1% 16.6% 17.2%17.0% 17.3% 17.0% 17.8%


Source: Trendrapport, toerisme, recreati en vrije tijd 2010-2011.

0 20 40 6010 30 50 70 80

Internet bookings

Non-Internet bookings 67.0%

33.0%



Other

Wellness/health

Countryside

Routes


Sun and beach

40.0%12.2%

5.1%

9.1%

13.7%

19.9%

36 37markets

Market structureBooking via intermediaries still carries some weight because of the proliferation of virtual sales platforms such as booking.com, ho-tels.com (accommodation), bongo.es and cadeaubox.be (experiences) and collective purchasing groups (groupon.be). 58% of bookings are made directly with suppliers.

Belgian tourists visiting Catalonia are mainly attracted by sun and beach (62%) and city trips, Barcelona being the third most-popular destination after Paris and London. Last year Barcelona won the Belgian Travel Award 2012 for the best European city trip.

The main tour operators, Thomas Cook and Jetair (TUI), have 80% of the market. The other tour operators are small but very spe-cialised: coach companies, mutual benefit associations, clubs and the like.

The main destination for tour operators’ packages is the Costa Brava.

Transport

Regular weekly flights (summer 2014)

BRU CH TotalBarcelona 57 7 64Girona 3 7 10Reus 2 4 6

80

Airlines:•BrusselsAirlines: 20•Vueling: 23•Ryanair: 32•Jetair: 5

Products

The main preferences of Belgian tourists vis-iting Catalonia are for sun and beach holi-days (62%) and city trips. There are no data for activity and nature holidays, which are growing in other markets.

69% of Belgian travellers use the Internet and websites to gather information on travel and holidays. The websites most frequently consulted are, in order, those for accommo-dation, destination, tour operators and trip organisers, transport, opinion pages (TripAd-visor), travellers’ photographs and videos on YouTube, and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Trips organised via tour operators and travel agencies’ catalogues are in second place (28%), while guidebooks and magazines are the third most popular option.

Patterns of demandMany Belgians use their own cars to travel to Catalonia (44%), making tourist routes a product for potential growth. Coaches are still an important transport choice (18%). 38% come to Catalonia by air, while the fig-ure for Spain as a whole is 68%.

Belgian tourists’ most frequent choice of accommodation is hotels (61%), while they are beginning to rent apartments and rural tourism accommodation (20%) and also like campsites (16%).

In Belgium there are five holiday periods when people can travel, especially during the summer months (July-September), au-tumn, Christmas, Carnival and Easter.

Trends and competitive positioningThe future economic scenario is moderately positive and is not expected to have a nega-tive effect on people’s leisure travel. The use of ICT is growing, basically because people are searching for information, making book-ings and visiting promotional and virtual sales platforms.

The use of smartphones and tablets is still limited.

Climate conditions are a decisive last-minute factor in Belgian tourists’ choice of holiday. They report that they are committed to sus-tainable tourism models, which allow them to experience ‘local’ life. Some travel agencies and Internet platforms have sustainability rankings for destinations or are associated with platforms such as Travelife.

Catalonia’s main competitors in this market are destinations such as the Canary Islands and Costa del Sol in Spain, and other Medi-terranean countries.

Catalonia’s best-known brands are the sun and beach destinations (Costa Brava and Costa Daurada) and Barcelona.

42% of all bookings are made via intermediaries.

belgiumbenelux38 39markets


Dutch GDP is 0.1% down, with per capita GDP of €32,882.45, an increase in the con-sumer price index of 2.5% and an unemploy-ment rate of 8.2%.653,418 Dutch tourists visited Catalonia, staying here for an average of 8.6 nights. To-tal spending was €487,385,264, an average per tourist of €747.

Market structureThe use of intermediaries is significant in the Dutch market, 75% of bookings being made via an intermediary. 23% are via tour opera-tors (the number is falling), while a rising number use other options such as dynamic packaging, zoover.nl (currently 52%).

The growth of ICT has led tour operators to overhaul their business model and they now use online channels to sell directly to the public. 55% of the market is dominated by the main tour operators: TUI, OAD, Thomas Cook, Sundio Group and Corendon.

Other important agencies in this sector in-clude clubs like the automobile club ANWB, tour operators specialising in cycling and hiking, coach operators, etc. The main des-tinations for tour operators are Spain (the Canary Islands, Costa del Sol and Costa Brava), Turkey and Greece.

A total of 127 flights come to Catalonia. 100 of these are to Barcelona, 23 to Girona and 4 to Reus.

AMS RTM EIN MST GRO TotalBarcelona 86 7 7 – – 100Girona 8 5 5 3 2 23Reus – – 4 – – 4

127

The breakdown of airlines operating in Cata-lonia is as follows:

•KLM:42•Transavia:42•Ryanair:14•Vueling:28•Arkefly:1

The most popular products with Dutch trav-ellers visiting Catalonia are sun and beach (51%) and city trips (31%). Barcelona is a very popular destination, after Paris and Lon-don. We know there is great interest in activ-ity and nature holidays, which is therefore an interesting area for development.

France is the most popular destination for Dutch travellers, with 6.5 million visits, while slightly under a million visited Catalonia.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 6.8 6.2 6.2 6.4 6.5 6.8 +5.4%Germany 3.4 3.6 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.9 -0.7%Total Spain 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.5 +11.7%Italy 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 -5.2%Catalonia 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.8 – –

beneluxthe netherlands

7 out of every 10 Dutch tourists use the Internet when booking travel.


Source: Trendrapport, toerisme, recreati en vrije tijd 2010-2011.

Internet

Physical travel agencies

Phone

The most important motives for Dutch travellers are sun and beach and city breaks.



Other

Nature

Routes

Countryside


Sun and beach

32.0%18.3%

5.1%

9.4%

14.3% 20.9%

The number of Dutch tourists travelling to Europe has risen since 2009 and it is expected to exceed 25 million by 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

22.3 23.3 23.0 24.023.2 23.4 23.7 25.3

40 41markets

Travel abroad Travel to CataloniaSun and beach 28% 51%City trips 16% 31%Activity and nature 30% Not available

Today the Internet is a much more important source of travel information than tour opera-tors and travel agencies. The websites vis-ited most often are the following (in order, by type of content):

•Accommodation•Information about destinations•User opinions•Ratings (www.zoover.nl, www.vakantiere-

iswijzer.nl, www.tripadvisor.nl, etc.)•Travel blogs•Facebook

25% of Dutch travellers share their experi-ences and photos during and after their trips and 93% take smartphones or tablets with them. Specialist publications still have a cer-tain importance as a source of travel ideas.

There are two programmes devoted to travel on Dutch TV: RTL Travel and Campinglife.

Patterns of demandMost Dutch tourists travel to Catalonia by air (50%), the remainder coming in private cars (33%) and by coach (15%).

Travel to Spain Travel to CataloniaAir 79% 50%Car 13% 33%Coach 5% 15%

•As a lot of Dutch tourists use their cars to travel to Catalonia, there is potential for promoting routes for visitors.

With regard to accommodation, 45% stay in hotels and 20% at campsites, a very popular type of holiday in this market. 16% choose to rent accommodation, often using websites such as www.micazu.nl, where Dutch people owning property in tourist destinations offer rentals.

Travel to Spain Travel to CataloniaHotel 43% 45%Rentals* 22% 16%Campsites 10% 20%

Holiday dates vary according to the coun-try’s three main areas and the arrival of visi-tors is spread over summer, autumn, Christ-mas and Easter.

Trends and competitive positioningThe Dutch economy is going through a diffi-cult period, aggravated by a very pessimistic perception of the situation by the population, which may have a negative impact on people’s decision to travel abroad for their holidays.The tour operators have reacted to the eco-nomic situation by starting a price war for all the Mediterranean destinations, which has led to restructuring in the sector following bankruptcies, takeovers, etc. However, the real growth is in online booking options, such as: upselling, dynamic packaging, auctions, OTAs, etc.

Some platforms which operate exclusively online have achieved a strong position in the market. They include Weekendjeweg (10.5% market share), BoelVandaag.nl, VakantiArena.nl, Vliegtickets.nl, Vliegtarieven.nl and Zoover.nl.

In the last season there was increased use of last-minute booking, largely because of three factors:

•Uncertaintyabouttheeconomy•Aggressivemarketingbytouroperators•Badweather

25% of Dutch tourists share photos and experiences during and after their holidays.

The Dutch are at the forefront in their commit-ment to sustainable tourism, as part of what is often referred to as ‘bio-capitalism’. Many tour operators and travel associations thus subscribe to the Travelife platform, the WTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the GreenSeat initiative.

This trend can also be seen in the fact that TripAdvisor will soon be introducing sustain-ability rankings and the fact that Expedia is currently compiling information about accom-modation with sustainability certification.

TUI Netherlands has also announced sustain-ability targets for 2015:

•Airlines(Arkefly):reductionofCO2 emissions•Accommodation:3,000hotelsavailablewithsustainability accreditation•Staff:specifictrainingtosellandadvisecus-tomers on sustainable holidays

Catalonia’s main competitors in this market are sun and beach destinations such as the Canary Islands, Costa del Sol, Andalusia and Portugal. For activity and nature holidays the main competitors are Germany, Austria, France and Italy.

Lastly, the destinations best known to Dutch travellers are the Costa Brava and Costa Dau-rada, as they identify Catalonia as a sun and beach destination, together with Barcelona.

the netherlandsbenelux42 43markets


Economic data

We include six countries in the ‘Nordic coun-tries’ group: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Den-mark, Estonia and Iceland.

Economic data (2011)*IMF estimate for 2012

Population (millions)

Per capita income (USD)*

GDP(million

USD)

Journeys abroad 2010

(millions)Holidays abroad (millions) 2010

SE 9.4 57,948 354,716 13 10.8NO 4.9 99,665 255,284 7.6 6.0FIN 5.3 47,496 185,979 5 3.9DK 5.5 57,572 201,739 7 4.3EST 1.3 16,637 0.9 0.5ISL 0.3 41,411 *** ***Total 26.6 33.5 25.5

In 2013 the number of tourists rose by 16.6%, while spending increased by 24.6%, making the Nordic countries Catalonia’s sixth largest market.

Average daily expenditure by Nordic tour-ists in Catalonia was €163.18 in 2013, an in-crease of 12.2% over the previous year, put-ting this market in third place after Japan and the US. Average spending per Nordic tourist rose by 6.8%. The only indicator which fell was the number of nights spent here per vis-it, down from 6.5 to 6.3.

Eulàlia CabanaDirector of the Nordic Countries office

751,000 tourists from the Nordic countries visited Catalonia in 2013, a 16.6% increase on 2012 figures. This is a market that has not been seriously affected by the recession and daily spending levels remain high (it is the second most important market). People from the Nordic countries travel throughout the year and are well-read travellers. For their summer holidays they are mainly interested in sun and beach, with guaranteed good weather. Among Spanish destinations the Balearic Islands are becoming more popu-lar, while the Canary Islands are still the top winter destination.

Interest in Catalonia has grown in recent years, although the Costa Brava and Cos-ta Daurada are the brands known by most people. Barcelona (among the top 5 in city breaks) is the main entry point for Nordic tourists. It is one of Catalonia’s main selling points and is a leading destination for city breaks, business and meetings. Golf and sporting events are two other products to be borne in mind. Increasing numbers of spe-cialist tour operators are promoting products such as hiking and wine tourism in Catalonia.

nordic countries

norwaydenmarkfinlandswedenicelandestonia

Spain is the top destination for Nordic tourists, with 3.2 million visitors, 20% of whom came to Catalonia.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*Total Spain 3.4 3.6 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.3 +3.2%Germany 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.7 -0.2%United Kingdom 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.3 +11.9%France 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 +1.0%Catalonia 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.6 – –

60% of Nordic tourists book travel online.


Source: Turespaña Tourist Information Office.

Online

Offline

After the drop in 2009, journeys by Nordic tourists to European countries have risen and by 2015 the number is expected to reach 30 million.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

25.7 27.6 27.0 28.1 29.926.8 28.5 27.4

The most important motives for Nordic travellers are sun and beach and city breaks.



Other

Nature

Countryside

Routes


Sun and beach

27.7%20.6%

6.4%

8.6%

15.4%21.3%

44 45markets

Market structureThe Nordic countries are a good market for tour operators and a number of large groups have a strong presence there, including TUI Nordic, Thomas Cook Nordic and Kuo-ni Scandinavia. The market is not greatly structured by product. The main OTAs (on-line travel agencies) in the Nordic market are eTraveli, which uses 10 different brands in the Nordic countries, Travellink (Odigeo group), Orbitz Worldwide with the ebookers brands (NO, FI) and MrJet (DK, SE).

There are 166 direct flights to Catalonia in peak season (July) from 20 airports in the Nordic countries to two airports in Catalonia (Barcelona and Girona). The number has fallen by 2.3% as a result of the elimination of 8 flights by Ryanair.

However, in 2014, Vueling, Norwegian Ex-press, SAS and Wow Air (formerly Iceland Express) will be increasing the frequency of their flights and extending the season on their routes. Norwegian is establishing a hub in Barcelona and opening a route from Bar-celona to Oslo Torp TRF.

It is interesting to note that the numbers of flights from Norway and Denmark have in-creased by 12.5% and 10% respectively.

The most popular products with Nordic tour-ists in Catalonia are city breaks (Barcelona rose by 3%), MICE, golf and sporting events and sports holidays. MICE groups often combine their trip with other sub-products, such as wine tourism.

The most important product in the Nordic market is sun and beach, as tourists want to be sure of good weather during their summer holidays. Our main competitors in providing sun and beach holidays are the rest of Spain, especially Majorca and other destinations on the Mediterranean coast, Greece (up 12%) and Turkey.

The second most popular product is city breaks, which have grown in Barcelona, as mentioned previously.

Bookings in Spain as a whole rose by 18%. The biggest increases were in Alicante (47%), Gran Canaria (38%), Malaga (25%) and Majorca (17%).

There was a marked drop in bookings for Bulgaria, Croatia and Italy.

Top destinations booked via the Swedish ticket agency in 2013:

1. Antalya, Turkey (1) 2. Gran Canaria (2) 3. London (4) 4. Palma de Mallorca (3) 5. Bangkok (7) 6. Paris (new) 7. Tenerife (6) 8. New York, USA (5) 9. Barcelona (new) 10. Crete (8)

Patterns of demand92.4% of Nordic tourists fly to Catalonia on reg-ular flights, 7% come by car, 0.3% by sea and 0.3% by train.

They are looking for sun and beach holidays and 75% stay in hotels, often opting for all-in-clusive accommodation at 3- and 4-star estab-lishments. They have clear preferences for ho-tels which are specifically suitable for families with children or adults travelling on their own.

Those looking for more active holidays often choose golf and stay in 4-star hotels. Business and MICE travellers choose 4- or 5-star hotels and visitors coming for city breaks usually stay at 4-star hotels.

Nordic countries, followed by the UK, have the highest level of online sales (55% in 2012). 54% of travel agency bookings were made online in 2012. Sales via OTAs rose by 22%, while there was a 15% increase in sales via the portals of conventional tour operators.

The main social networks are Facebook and Twitter. Travellers from Nordic countries want Internet access in their place of accommoda-tion.

Business travel is also largely booked online (47% for the Nordic countries as a whole).

Use of social networks in Sweden

Facebook: 66%Twitter: 17%Instagram: 15%

Nordic families have an average of 5 weeks’ holidays a year with great flexibility in the choice of dates. There are very few public holidays. School holidays begin in the first half of July and end at the beginning of August. Schools have a one-week holiday in October and another in February. July is the most im-portant holiday month.

Trends and competitive positioningThe number of regular flights to classic sun and beach destinations has increased. Con-sequently, despite the strength of the tour operators, Nordic travellers in search of sun and beach holidays are increasingly using regular flights and booking hotel accommo-dation via OTAs. The number of bookings in Catalonia has remained steady, with a slight increase (2%). There has been a change in the profile of city breaks as families with chil-dren are also travelling to cities in the sum-mer months. There is also a tendency for visi-tors to stagger their bookings during the year and not restrict travel to July.

There has been an increase in all-inclusive and business trips, luxury travel and unique experiences. Smartphones are becoming important tools for finding information when people make bookings and the use of travel portals and Internet search facilities has also grown.

Classic sun and beach destinations continue to attract more visitors (Antalya, Gran Canar-ia Palma, Costa del Sol). Greece continues in top position for the summer months. Long-distance travel for sun and beach holidays and city breaks is increasing in popularity. For the golf product, Portugal and the Costa del Sol are our main competitors.

Catalonia is well known in the tourism indus-try but it does not feature in marketing except for minority products such as hiking and cy-cle tourism. The Barcelona and Costa Brava brands are used.

nordic countries

There is increasing interest in all-inclusive trips, luxury travel and unique experiences.

46 47markets


Russia has the sixth-largest share of world GDP. Its GDP is 2.022 trillion USD and per capita GDP is 14,247 USD. Inflation is 6% and unemployment is also 6%.

In the last season the number of Russians travelling abroad rose by 24%, with 14 mil-lion tourists travelling to Turkey as the top destination, although the number of Russian tourists fell by 10%. Egypt staged a recovery, with visitor numbers rising by 30% to nearly 1.9 million. Travel to European destinations and long-stay travel (3 to 4 weeks) grew. Spain was the fourth most-popular destina-tion and was visited by over 1 million Russian tourists.

Josep Maria PerramonDirector of the Eastern Europe office

Travel abroad by Russians has increased by about 25%. The proportion of Russian visitors to Catalonia has also risen (to nearly 28%) and the outlook for the future is very positive. Catalonia remains at the forefront among Spanish destinations, the most popu-lar products still being sun and beach, Bar-celona and family holidays.

The best known destinations in Catalonia are the coast, certain towns and cities, such as Barcelona, Girona, Figueres, Besalú and Tarragona, and the monastery at Montserrat. The singers Montserrat Caballé and Josep Carreras are well known, as is Futbol Club Barcelona.

Russian tourists travel with their families and stay for long periods, around 12 days on average. There has been an increase in online booking and new products are emerg-ing, such as trips for seniors, medical tour-ism, gastronomy tourism, etc. Average daily spending is high, and most tourists stay in 4-star hotels on the sea front.

Catalonia was the first Spanish destination to promote itself in Russia; there are strong per-sonal links we should maintain and develop.

russia

In 2013 Ukraine attracted nearly half of the total number of Russian tourists (over 7 million), while Catalonia was visited by nearly a million.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*Ukraine 7.3 7.6 7.0 7.0 7.8 9.4 -20.3%Turkey 2.5 2.9 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.9 +17.8%Finland 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 +4.1%Total Spain 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.9 – –Catalonia 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.5 – –

Although 20% of Russians use online channels, three-quarters of bookings are still made via tour operators and offline agencies.


Source: Russian Union of Travel Industry.

75%

20%

5%


operators

Online

Directly with supplier in destination

The most important motives for Russian travellers are sun and beach and interesting routes.



Other

Countryside


Routes

Sun and beach

40.3%19.5%

2.6%

17.9%

19.7%

Since 2009 the number of journeys to Europe by Russians has grown and it is expected to exceed 20 million by 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

12.615.9 17.0 18.6

20.8

13.718.0 17.7

48 49markets

Market structureTour operators control 80% of the market and there has been a rise in the number of online agencies, leading to an increase in bookings made in this way, especially in major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Transport

There has been an increase in the number of regular direct flights by Vueling, Aeroflot and Transaero, and the passenger capac-ity of the planes has been extended. In high season the number of weekly flights rose by

16% to 207, including charter flights. There was also an increase in the number of visi-tors to regional destinations and the number of travellers in the Baltic countries using low-cost flights with Wizz Air and Air Baltic.

Products

The most popular products are sun and beach and family holidays (chosen by 60%), followed by cultural products (18%) and wellness (10%), the remaining percentage corresponding to luxury travel, MICE, sport, city breaks, education and trips for young people, sports camps, language, courses, etc.

Television is the most important of the me-dia because of its impact on end consum-ers. Radio and the press help to maintain the image of our destination and can be used to promote more specific products, such as wellness, shopping and gastronomy. There is a notable increase in the use of social net-works, which has led to the appearance of new professional travel information websites.

Patterns of demand90% of Russian tourists come to Catalonia by air, while the rest travel by coach or using the Europe+coach or fly&drive options.

50% of Russian tourists choose 4-star hotels while 5-star hotels on the sea front are espe-cially popular. There is also growing interest in holiday apartments.

Facebook is becoming increasingly popular in Russia, together with such local networks as odnoklassniki.ru and vkontakte.ru. An interesting trend is the appearance of last-minute booking websites, such as cheap-trip.ru and the like, and websites offering city breaks with online booking. Lastly, travel booking sites with loyalty programmes have been set up, such as www.tours.malina.ru.

School holidays are concentrated in sum-mer, although there is a short autumn break and the Christmas holidays last until mid-January. This is a good period for promoting snow products, shopping and city breaks. Schools also close at Easter and there are several long weekends.

russia

60% of Russian tourists travel to enjoy sun and beach and holidays with their families.

Trends and competitive positioningGenerally speaking, there is a tendency for people to make more use of online booking and to make short trips at any time of year. There is also growing interest in new products such as senior, medical and gastronomy tour-ism. More travellers are also staying in apart-ments and renting holiday homes.

Catalonia’s main competitors are Turkey, Greece and other destinations in Spain. Knowledge of the coastal area and Barce-lona is medium-high as is familiarity with the main cultural destinations such as Girona, Figueres, Besalú, Montserrat and Tarragona.

50 51markets


Facts and figures

The Chinese market is the second largest in the world, with a GDP of 56,884,500 million and 7.7% growth vs. 2012. 52.6% of the pop-ulation of China live in urban areas and their average per capita income is 24,565 CNY, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%, with a cur-rency that is rising in value against the US dollar. 1USD = CNY6.1932 (+1.93%).

These figures put China at the top of the Globe Shopper Nations list for the first time ever in the history of world tourism.

58.5% of Chinese tourists who travelled to Spain last year visited Catalonia, mostly stay-ing in Barcelona, a city which continues to consolidate its position as a destination for incentive trips organised by large compa-nies.

Russia is the most popular destination for Chinese tourists visiting Europe, with 1.2 million visitors. All markets have experienced substantial growth.


Source: IET and Tourism Economics.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011Andalusia 13.0 11.6 11.1 11.5 11.8Catalonia 9.9 9.8 9.5 9.7 10.0Castile and León 10.1 10.1 8.9 8.7 9.0Valencia 7.0 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.4Castile-La Mancha 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.0

Ming LiDirector of the China office

Catalonia is known to the Chinese as the home of Gaudí’s Sagrada Família, Camp Nou, Art Nouveau and Samaranch, who is seen as a great friend of the Chinese people. Over 100,000 Chinese tourists came to Cata-lonia, Barcelona being the most popular des-tination, and they account for 1% of all for-eign visitors. China is the second country in the world in spending on foreign travel. One of our main challenges is to make Catalonia one of the top five European destinations for this market.

The profile of a typical Chinese tourist is a woman aged 18 to 45. She has been to university and usually travels in a group but informs herself well before travelling and en-joys helping to plan the trip. New technolo-gies must therefore be taken into account in our future plans for this market.

It is interesting to note that the Catalonia/Bar-ça combination is giving good results and FCB is undoubtedly seen as number one in world football.

chinaHalf of the bookings made are via tour operators or offline travel agencies, while 30% of Chinese travellers use online channels.


50%

30%

15%

5%


Online


No previous booking

There is a positive trend in travel to Europe by Chinese tourists as substantial medium-term growth is anticipated with the number of travellers exceeding 6 million in 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

2.6 3.1 3.24.1

6.1

2.9 2.93.7

52 53markets

Market structure

Intermediaries

Although there has been considerable growth in the percentage of individual tourists who travel, an important feature of the Chinese market is the role of tour operators and travel agencies as intermediaries who process visa applications and organise group travel.

The following online agencies are increasing their market share: Crip.com, Lvmama.com and Tuniu.com.

Transport

Air China has announced the route Beijing-Vienna-Barcelona starting in May 2014 with four flights each week, although current visitor numbers would justify the creation of a Barcelona-Shanghai air link. Currently the only direct flight from China to Spain is the Beijing-Madrid route, operated by Air China, with four flights per week. The hubs used most extensively are Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul and Dubai.

Products

The product most in demand by Chinese tourists travelling to Spain is an organised tour taking in the whole country, with 2/3 nights spent in Barcelona. The most popu-lar routes are those focusing on architecture, wine and gastronomy, golf and photography.

Barcelona is an important destination for incentive trips. Incentive trips organised by large companies usually include an average of 4 nights at hotels in Barcelona.

Lastly, cruises are another option. They are concentrated around the spring holidays and during the school holidays in summer.

China is the world’s largest Internet user (618 million), with market penetration of 45.8%, and it has the world’s largest number of mo-bile phone users (1.112 billion, 232 million of whom have 3G).

The dominant Internet browser is still Baidu.com, and its subsidiary, QuNar, is the leader in the travel information sector. The main In-ternet portals for tourism are sina.com and sohu.com, and the most important TV chan-nel is CCTV.

china

Patterns of demandMost Chinese visitors to Spain come by air, using traditional airlines.

Holiday makers tend to prefer 3- and 4-star hotels, while for meeting tourism 4- and 5-star hotels are usually chosen, with a preference for hotel chains.

As a result of censorship, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube do not reach the Chinese mainland market. In the first quarter of 2013 the Catalan Tour-ist Board activated a weibo profile on the Tencent and Sina portals. The first app in Chinese for mobiles with the name ‘Top 10 Catalonia’ is now available from the iPhone App Store. It was launched on 15 January 2014.

The longest holiday periods in 2014 will be the Spring Festival Golden Week, from 30 January to 5 February, and National Day Golden Week, from 1 to 7 October.

Trends and competitive positioningAccording to the WTO, 100 million Chinese people are expected to travel in 2020. They usually travel in groups, although the number of individual travellers is increasing. Europe continues to compete with the United States and Australia as a long-distance destination. Within Europe, Spain is the sixth most-visited country, after France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland.

The Catalonia brand is well known to Chinese tourism professionals, followed at a consider-able distance by the Costa Brava. Catalonia is one of the few European regions that main-tain bilateral relations with China. Barcelona is twinned with Shanghai, and Catalonia with Canton. FCB and the 1992 Olympic Games boosted the Barcelona brand among profes-sionals and the general public.

The most popular product is tours.

54 55markets


Singapore is an open economy which is strongly influenced by other economies, and has accordingly felt the effects of the euro-zone crisis. In 2012 the Singapore economy grew by only 1.3% of GDP, a small increase which contrasts with the growth achieved in the previous years (6% in 2011 and 15% in 2010).

Although there was a slight contraction in the early months of 2013, it is hoped that the Sin-gapore economy will recover so that growth in GDP at the end of 2013 will be around 2%, with 2% unemployment.

In 2012 the euro lost about 20% of its value against the Singapore dollar. This makes Eu-rope 20% more competitive as a destination for the Singapore market.

The number of tourists from Singapore vis-iting Catalonia last year was 29,590, an in-crease of 13% over the previous year.

Catalonia continues to attract the largest percentage of tourists from Singapore visit-ing Spain.

David MiróDirector of the Singapore office

In 2013 the number of tourists coming to Catalonia from Singapore was nearly 35,000. Demand is expected to grow, geared to ‘light’ cultural experiences, shopping and making interesting gastronomic discoveries. Growth is anticipated in Mediterranean cruises and in incentive trips.

The level of spending by this market is con-siderably higher than that of travellers from European countries. Average spending per visitor is around €2,300.

Tourists from Singapore continue to choose 4- and 5-star hotels located as centrally as possible and near the main shopping areas. They like to combine Catalan gastronomy with Asian food.

Barcelona is an essential part of the Euro-pean capitals route followed by tourists from Singapore and it is hoped that in future it will become an important destination for visitors learning Spanish.

The main challenge for Catalonia is to foster the loyalty of tourists who have been to Bar-celona and who may be interested in visiting other parts of Catalonia. It would also be very valuable to position Catalonia as a centre for unique and luxury experiences and add oth-er points in Catalonia to tours linked to the main Mediterranean cruises.

singapore

France is the most popular destination with tourists from Singapore, receiving 150,000 visitors, while about 25,000 come to Catalonia.

Numbers, growth and forecast for visits to main destinations (thousands)


2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 91.3 132.5 137.3 138.5 150.5 194.2 +12.1%Switzerland 22.0 25.3 41.0 41.0 15.0 58.6 -36.3%Catalonia – – – 11.7 26.5 – –Italy 24.4 31.2 28.7 20.2 22.2 22.8 +22.6%Poland 4.3 5.2 6.6 12.8 14.9 17.5 +17.5%

Half of the bookings made are via tour operators or offline travel agencies, while 20% of travellers from Singapore use online channels.


75%

20%

5%


Online


There is a positive trend in travel to Europe by tourists from Singapore, as substantial medium-term growth is anticipated with the number of travellers exceeding half a million in 2015.

Tourists arriving in European destinations (thousands)


2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

275.3 274.261.6 406.9

505.3

297.1364.1 371.9

56 57markets

Market structure75% of Singaporeans use intermediaries and offline agencies to make holiday book-ings, 20% use online channels and only 5% book holidays directly with service providers.

Approximately 300 travel agents among the 900 members of the National Associa-tion of Travel Agents of Singapore (NATAS), of which the ACT is an associate member, sell trips to Europe and these are therefore of special interest to Catalonia.

Transport

Singapore Airlines is still the only south-east Asian airline to fly directly from Singapore to Barcelona, with three direct flights to Barce-lona every day. There are also two with tech-nical stops in Milan. Improvements in the connections and frequency offered by Qatar Airways and Emirates, together with flights by Finnair, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, provide other links between Singapore and Catalonia, in addition to direct flights.

Singapore Airlines is waiting for approval from the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority for an extension of its service to seven flights a week, providing a connection to São Paulo via Barcelona, which would establish a daily service between Singapore and Barcelona.

Products

25% of all tourists from Singapore continue to choose Catalonia mainly for ‘light’ cultural products, with gastronomic experiences. The second most-popular option is tours/cul-tural visits + shopping, chosen by 60%, and the third choice is Mediterranean cruises, which account for about 15%.

Shopping for the leading European fashion brands is a compulsory activity for Singa-porean tourists visiting Europe. In Catalonia they also like to combine eating Catalan food with Asian meals, to which they are more ac-customed.

Sections on travel and gastronomy feature in most of the main local newspapers in Sin-gapore, especially The Straits Times, The Business Times and Today, which frequently contain articles and special reports on desti-nations in different parts of the world.

Patterns of demand100% of visitors from Singapore travel to Cat-alonia by air, either directly to Barcelona or via other European capitals or the main cities in the Persian Gulf.

They appreciate the European high-speed rail network, which may encourage Singa-porean tourists to come to Catalonia by train from other EU countries.

Regarding accommodation, Singaporean tourists choose 4- and 5-star hotels. They must be centrally located and near the main shopping districts.

Tourists travelling on a more restricted budg-et do not rule out 3-star accommodation.

80% of the population have Internet access. This figure places Singapore among the leading countries in terms of Internet use.

There is a high level of confidence in the In-ternet as a means of obtaining information and making travel purchases, especially tickets, and its use is growing. The compa-nies recording most online sales are Tiger Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and AirAsia, which have now been joined by Cheaptickets.

In Singapore travel continues to follow the Chinese calendar, with greater volume at the end of May, June, November and December, coinciding with local school holidays.

Trends and competitive positioning

The government’s monetary policy and the exchange rate will allow Europe to become more competitive as a destination, encour-aging more travellers to choose it for their holidays.

Better and more frequent connections be-tween Singapore and Barcelona and links via other European capitals and cities in the Persian Gulf suggest that the market will continue to grow, possibly even by double figures.

Business and meeting tourism is increasingly open to European destinations, especially for incentive trips. Most trips of this kind take place in September, October and November. Apart from the Asian market our competi-tors are the middle east and some European countries such as Germany.

singapore

Our main competitors for the cultural discov-ery/cultural routes product are Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.

Malaysia, China, the United Kingdom and France have good market shares for breaks in connection with major sporting events, an area Catalonia also hopes to develop.

Destinations on the routes of north and south-east Asian cruises, the Nordic countries and the Caribbean are the main competitors for Mediterranean cruises, where Barcelona ap-pears in all the programmes marketed in Sin-gapore.

In Spain the destinations that compete with Catalonia are Madrid, Andalusia, Segovia, Avila and Toledo, although they also comple-ment Catalonia as a destination.

Barcelona is the Spanish destination which has best consolidated its position. La Roca del Vallès (La Roca Village) also has a cer-tain positioning together with Montserrat and excursions to Catalonia’s main wineries.

Futbol Club Barcelona is also one of the im-ages Singaporeans have when one speaks about Catalonia.

58 59markets


Inflation in the United States is currently 1.7%, GDP grew by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2013 and per capita GDP is 49,800 USD. Unemployment is currently 8.1%. The ex-change rate is €1 = USD1.30.

Americans made 60.7 million trips in 2012, 53% of which were to Canada and Mexico and 47% to other destinations. 11 million trips were to Europe, 4% more than in 2011.

France is the most popular destination for American travellers, with 3.4 million visitors. Catalonia was visited by about half a million American tourists.



2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015 %∆*France 3.4 3.3 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.4 +16.8%Italy 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.7 +11.0%Germany 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.5 +18.4%Total Spain 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.1 +8.0%Catalonia 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 – –

Cristina GargalloDirector of the United States office

568,045 American tourists visited us last year, 3.6% of all foreign arrivals. Most go to Barcelona. The United States is Catalonia’s ninth-largest outbound market but the fourth in terms of spending (€1.005 billion, down 9.2% from 2012). This market is, therefore, of great interest to us.

There is not a single profile for American tour-ists but many consumers fall into two clearly differentiated groups: the baby boomers and the millennials (aged 18 to 30).

Both know the Barcelona brand well and ei-ther organise a trip to visit it or come to the city in the course of a cruise. Unfortunately, they do not know Catalonia and do not iden-tify it with anything in particular. They often use ‘Barcelona’ to refer to the whole of Cata-lonia. We are thus faced with the great chal-lenge of raising awareness of our country in a market that places great value on heritage, history, gastronomy and wine, subjects of great interest in the United States at this time, as is the search for unique experiences that put visitors in touch with local culture.

united states

· Barcelona: pre-/post-cruise stays· Barcelona: stage in grand tour of Spain· Barcelona city and day trips: · Costa Brava - Figueres · Wine tourism

CATALONIA in the American market:what does it include?

· Maintain cruises.· Consolidate air links against a background of falling capacity.· Most important challenge for the future: increasing recognition of the Catalonia brand and positioning it more effectively.

Main challenges for the immediate future:

Over 50% of American tourists use online channels when booking travel.


Source: Catalan Tourist Board CPT, based on Office of Travel and Tourism Industries figures.

Online


operators

The number of American tourists travelling to Europe has risen since 2009 and it is expected to reach 22 million by 2015.



2011201020092008200720062005 (est.) 2015

17.920.1

17.5 18.121.9

19.7 18.5 18.2

60 61markets

Market structureThis is a market with few intermediaries. Only 15% of those visiting Europe had bought a package. The main groups/consortia of travel agents, by number of associates are vacation.com, Travelsavers, Ensemble, Vir-tuoso, Nest and Signature. By turnover (not only US business) the largest companies are: American Express; Expedia; Carlson Wagonlit Travel; Priceline; BCD Travel; Hogg Robinson Group; Orbitz Worldwide.

Transport

Products

The main priorities for American tourists are city tourism, cultural products, cruises, gas-tronomy and wine tourism, and meeting tour-ism. A second important group of products includes LGBT tourism, language courses and Jewish tourism.

Printed media are losing their influence while cable TV and Internet are growing, especial-ly via mobile phones in the case of the latter.

The consumer travel magazines with the larg-est circulation are:1. National Geographic 4,493,0242. Via Magazine 2,740,4353. AAA Living 2,469,8304. AAA Going Places 2,404,1215. Sunset 1,259,7506. Where Magazine 1,191,1527. Travel + Leisure 996,2178. Midwest Living 989,4249. National Geographic International 883,35710. Condé Nast Traveler 810,71311. National Geographic Traveler 742,57512. Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel 680,097

Patterns of demandThe vast majority (95%) come by air, while 4% arrive by car and only 1% by ship or train.

76% of US tourists stay in hotels or similar establishments, 6% have free accommoda-tion and 9.7% use other types of accommo-dation.

78.3% use the Internet and Google is the most popular search engine, followed by Bing (Microsoft), Yahoo, Ask and AOL. 166 million Americans are on Facebook. Surfing using mobile phones increased by 50 min-utes per day (+28.9% vs. 2010). The greatest growth in number of phone and tablet apps is in those related to travel. 60% of users have downloaded one or have made search-es concerning a trip.

Potential tourists use the Internet to find infor-mation about a trip (62%), read the opinions of other travellers (42%), watch videos (31%) and post comments about their trip (16%).

Americans normally have 10 to 15 days’ holiday entitlement each year but they of-ten take only 10 and lose one or two. Except New Year’s Day, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas, public holidays are moved to Mondays, giving them more time to travel.

Trends and competitive positioningThe proposed trip is decided 111 days before the date of departure. The average length of stay is 18.2 days and tourists visit an average of 1.5 countries during one trip.

The average annual income of an American family who travels to Europe is $144,534. The average age for men is 49 and for women it is 47.

The most popular activities when travelling to Europe are: tourist visits and shopping, followed by visits to historical sites, museums and art gal-leries, small towns and rural areas.

Demand for the following products is increas-ing:

• Multi-generation holidays: family groups with widely varying ages.

• Cruises: river and thematic cruises • There is growing interest in experience tour-

ism and authentic travel.

The most important foreign destinations for Americans are Mexico (20.6 million tourists) and Canada (11.8 million). Europe was visited by 11 million.

The European destinations most often chosen are:

• Italy: 73%• United Kingdom: 70%• France: 63%• Spain: 55%• Ireland: 52%

The Barcelona brand is well known in the Ameri-can market but there is relatively little knowledge of the Catalonia brand. Outside Barcelona, the most popular destinations are Girona, Figueres, Costa Brava, Montserrat and El Penedès.

united states

Americans normally book travel 90 days before they leave.

City Airport CompanyNew York Newark United Airlines / ContinentalNew York JFK International Airport American AirlinesNew York JFK International Airport DeltaMiami Miami International Airport American AirlinesPhiladelphia Philadelphia International Airport US AirwaysAtlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Delta AirlinesCharlotte Douglas International Airport US Airways

62 63markets


Inflation is one of the main problems in Ar-gentina: according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) it was 9.5% in 2011, but private consultants set the figure at nearly 23%. GDP in Argentina grew by 8.8% in 2011. At present the exchange rate is between 5.80 and 5.85, although it depends on fluctuations in the value of the dollar against the euro. Per capita GDP is €17,400.

Unemployment in 2010 was 7.3%, an im-provement on the preceding years. The numbers of travellers from Argentina arriving in Europe and forecasts for the future are as follows:


Data and forecasts last updated on 5 April, 2011, Fixed: Visits/Nights = (1000), Facts = Value.

Destination 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Europe 365.84 439.63 413.92 457.68 458.53 601.82

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015561.72 529.26 525.08 523.58 531.18

For other destinations, the figures are as fol-lows:

Volume, forecast and growth

Destination Uruguay Brazil Chile USA Spain2005 -0.1% 7.6% 5.2% 12.6% 23.4%2006 -12.0% -6.0% 12.8% 12.3% -17.4%2007 -6.9% -1.2% 11.1% 25.9% 7.4%2008 12.9% 10.4% 14.2% 19.2% -2.2%2009 12.2% 19.0% 15.4% 12.0% 39.0%2010 10.2% -15.3% -9.6% 22.4% -14.6%2011 -0.4% -5.1% 4.1% 9.6% -10.6%2012 2.4% -5.1% 2.1% 3.7% -5.3%2013 3.0% 1.2% 3.6% 4.4% -4.3%2014 2.2% 13.6% 0.9% 1.7% -4.3%2015 3.9% -0.8% 1.5% 3.4 % -1.6%

Joan RomeroDirector of the South America office

Over 5 million tourists travelled outside South America last season. Argentina is Catalonia’s second-largest outbound market in South America, with nearly 100,000 tourists visiting us. Tourism from Brazil is growing exponen-tially each year.

South American tourists tend to have high purchasing power and opt for quality tourism which is differentiated and personalised. The Barcelona brand is well known and visitors are showing interest in extending their stay by spending time on the Costa Brava. They are also interested in sport (especially Barça and the team’s Brazilian players) and in the cultural field they are familiar with Picasso, Salvador Dalí and the Sagrada Família. Trav-el is a leisure activity with a high social sta-tus and indicative of personal prestige, apart from being entertaining and bringing cultural benefits.

For these travellers Catalonia is a destination with a Mediterranean life style and it is seen as a place where they can buy international brands at more affordable prices.

south america

Total spending by Argentinians travelling abroad in 2007 was 3,826.1 million dollars, 27% more than 2006 and 54% more than 2004. 24% of all spending was in Europe.

It is the most visited destination not border-ing on Argentina and accounts for 33% of all journeys. In 2008 Argentine tourists spent 3,554.23 million euros, 16.5% more than in 2007. In 2009, however, spending fell by 2.5% to 3,464.3 million euros. Estimated spending for 2011 is 4,246.42 million euros, an increase of 13.2% on the figure for 2010. Argentina was Spain’s nineteenth-largest in-ternational market in 2011, after Japan and Brazil. In 2011 the number of Argentine tour-ists visiting Spain grew by 8.3% to a record level of 299,396. Spain accounted for 5.6% of the Argentine outbound market.

Foreign travel by Argentine tourists varies considerably because of the country’s eco-nomic situation. Since 2007 there has been a rising trend in the number of Argentines travelling abroad (from 4,391,453 in 2007 to 6,686,469 in 2011). Spending by the 6,686,469 travellers visiting Europe in 2011 totalled 4,246 million euros.

86.2% of those travelling abroad were from the Buenos Aires region, 34.1% being from the city itself.

The most popular destinations in Spain are Madrid, which was visited by 128,180 tour-ists, and Catalonia, with 93,297 tourists. An-dalusia and Galicia were in third and fourth place respectively. Catalonia and Madrid ac-count for 70% of the tourists coming to Spain. In 2011 Catalonia was visited by 64.7% more tourists than in 2010.

argentinabrazil

argentinasouth america64 65markets

Market structurePurchases of tour packages have been de-clining since 2005. In 2007 there was an in-crease in trips organised by third parties.

90% of Argentine tourists arrange their trips via travel agencies, although Internet is also used extensively as a source of information.

Products

In 2011 the most popular tour packages were air-land packages to Madrid or Barce-lona, visiting cities in Spain or Europe, city tours in Madrid or Barcelona, and Mediter-ranean cruises sailing from Barcelona.

Spain’s main attractions are cultural and city tourism, Barcelona being one of the destina-tions most in demand. Business tourism and major event tourism in Spain also attract this market.

The most decisive factors in the choice of destination are travel for pleasure, associ-ated with the beach, mountain holidays and spas, followed by cultural tourism, especially in Europe. The products most in demand by Argentine travellers in Europe are air tickets, air-land tours visiting various European cit-ies, and cruises (these have become more popular than in previous years). In Catalonia there is demand for air-land tours starting in Barcelona, high-speed train travel and Medi-terranean cruises sailing from Barcelona.

Patterns of demandTransport

The majority of tourists (94%) came to Spain by air, while 5% came by road. The most popular type of accommodation was better-class hotels, chosen by 39.4%. The second choice was accommodation with relatives and friends, followed by 1-, 2- and 3-star ho-tels.

Type of accommodation chosen by Argentine tourists in Spain

Source: IET. Survey Movimientos Turísticos en Fronteras (Frontur).

52.3%

0.6%

47.1%

Unspecified

Non-hotelHotels and similar establishments

In the case of Spain, many tourists (52%) looked at the Internet when planning their trips and 41.3% of these made online book-ings. In the case of Spain the opinion of rela-tives, friends and acquaintances is very im-portant, although, as with other destinations, the Internet and travel agencies are useful sources of information. Social networks are a point of contact, the most widely used being Facebook, the country being the network’s sixth largest user; Twitter is ninth by market penetration.

The first quarter of the year is when most Ar-gentinians travel, coinciding with summer in Argentina. However, in the case of Europe, the most popular time to travel is the fourth quarter and the first quarter is when there are fewest visitors.

In Spain, 64% of Argentine tourists go on cul-tural visits, 22% go shopping and 13% are interested in activities related to gastronomy. Barcelona is among the most important des-tinations for cultural tourism. Spain is also a very attractive destination for meeting tour-ism.

Spain is a very attractive destination for meeting tourism.

Main reason for visit

Source: IET. Survey Movimientos Turísticos en Fronteras (Frontur).

Personal

Work / business / trade fairs / conferences

Pleasure / holiday

Other

20102011

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Trends and competitive positioningThe average length of stay for Argentine tour-ists in Spain is 13.4 nights. 30.9% of visitors spend from 4 to 7 nights in Spain, followed by those who spend 8 to 15 nights and then those who spend over 15 nights. The aver-age length of stay has fallen slightly, com-pared with previous years.

Many tourists choose beach and mountain locations and spas for a restful holiday. Oth-ers prefer entertainment, learning about oth-er cultures and places, etc.Bookings for foreign travel used to be made well in advance (1 to 6 months). There is, however, a tendency not to book so far ahead and a good number plan their trips as they go. Bookings are usually now made 30 to 45 days in advance.

Major events play an important part in the choice of destination: in 2010 there was a considerable increase in the direct purchase of tour operators’ packages that included tickets for football matches involving both Futbol Club Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Spain is still the top destination in Europe for Argentine tourists but Italy, France and Germany compete with us. The main com-petitors outside Europe are the United States and Canada, followed by Chile and the other South American countries. Asian countries are growing rapidly in popularity.

argentinasouth america66 67markets


Brazil is the world’s seventh largest econo-my and it is expected to have climbed two places by 2016. GDP has an average annual growth of 5%. The population is nearly 200 million, with an average age of 29.

The areas generating most tourism are the south of the country (Paranà, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul) and the south-east (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo). In these regions we find Bra-zil’s richest states, which account for 75% of the country’s wealth. São Paulo is the most prosperous, with 33.9% of the country’s total GDP, followed by Rio de Janeiro and Paranà. In 2010 per capita GDP was 10,650 USD, with falling unemployment due to economic growth; in 2012 the working population grew by 1.9% compared to 2011.

The number of Brazilian tourists arriving in Europe is shown below:


Data and forecasts last updated on 5 April, 2011, Fixed: Visits/Nights = (1000), Facts = Value.

Destination 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Europe 982.21 1,250.53 1,516.52 1,840.82 1,999.03 2,302.03

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20152,302.71 2,721.05 3,100.16 3,274.77 3,278.95 3,234.49

Destinations and forecast growth:

Numbers and forecast growth

Destination USA Argentina France Uruguay Spain2005 26% 8% 44% 5% 21%2006 8% 26% 11% 16% 16%2007 22% 30% 45% 25% -2%2008 20% 17% 13% 5% 10%2009 16% 11% -3% 12% 10%2010 28% 18% 15% 24% 22%2011 10% 19% 13% 11% 22%2012 9% 16% 10% 2% 17%2013 7% 10% 3% 1% 7%2014 0% 7% -2% 0% 1%2015 -1% 6% -3% 0% -1%

In 2011, 5.4 million Brazilians travelled abroad, an increase of 2% on the figure for 2010. 718,948 Brazilian tourists visited Spain in 2011, 69.9% more than in 2010. Catalonia was visited by 136,106 Brazilians in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 59.08%.

Spending by Brazilian tourists continues to grow in line with the trend in recent years. In 2011, it was 39,979.1 million reais. Fash-ion and clothing are the items on which they spend most, followed by electronics.

The leading destinations in Europe are Spain and Portugal, followed by Italy and France. In Spain the most popular destinations are the Autonomous Community of Madrid and Catalonia, both of which saw growth of over 50%. In the first quarter of 2012, year-on-year growth in Catalonia was greater than in Ma-drid, a difference which has been observed in the first quarter of all the years 2007 to 2012.

Market structureOnly 25% of Brazilian tourists contract pack-ages when travelling to Spain. Organised travel is giving way to independent travel and tourists only visit travel agencies to deal with specific issues or to obtain more specialised information. In Spain only 16% of Brazilian tourists opted for package tours.

There is a direct flight between Barcelona and São Paulo which runs daily except on Sundays.

Route Flight Day Departure ArrivalSão Paulo - BCN SQ67 Monday 17:40 9:05 (next day)São Paulo - BCN SQ67 Thursday 17:40 9:05 (next day)São Paulo - BCN SQ67 Saturday 17:40 9:05 (next day)BCN - São Paulo SQ68 Monday 09:00 16:10BCN - São Paulo SQ68 Thursday 09:00 16:10 BCN - São Paulo SQ68 Saturday 09:00 16:10

Singapore Airlines - direct FLIGHTSSÃO PAULO, GUARULHOS AIRPORT - BARCELONA-EL PRAT AIRPORT

Products

The activities most often contracted by Bra-zilians are travel and excursions within the country, spa packages, tours, cultural visits in cities and cruises. There is growing inter-est in cultural and gastronomy tourism, relax-ing holidays, sport and adventure travel and nature tourism.

brazilsouth america68 69markets

Patterns of demandMost people arrive in Spain by air. Only a few come by road, although in recent years the number has risen.

Number of tourists visiting Spain (thousands) by access mode, 2006-2011

Source: Frontur (*provisional data).

2007 2008 2009 2010* 2011 1st Q 2012*TOTAL

Total 252,061 226,110 227,731 241,094 360,006 80,059Year-on-year chge. (%) -1.8 -10.3 0.7 5.9 49.2 27.7AIRPORT

Total 183,677 173,670 196,185 210,971 321,454 64,635Year-on-year chge. (%) 29.8 -5.4 13.0 7.5 52.4 9.9ROAD

Total 66,157 50,228 29,295 25,252 29,865 14,105Year-on-year chge. (%) -41.5 -24.1 -41.7 -13.8 18.2 373.3OTHER

Total 308 2,215 2,251 4,871 8,688 1,319Year-on-year chge. (%) -29.0 -0.6 1.6 116.4 74.2 39.7

The most important item of expenditure for Brazilian travellers is accommodation, 80.1% of tourists paying for this item in Spain in 2011. Accommodation and air travel are the products consumed most extensively.

Number of tourists visiting Spain (thousands) by type of accommodation, 2006-2011


2007 2008 2009 2010* 2011 1st Q 2012*TOTAL

Total 252,061 226,110 227,731 241,094 360,006 80,059Year-on-year chge. (%) -1.8 -10.3 0.7 5.9 49.2 27.7Hotels and similar establishments

Total 163,339 163,776 145,038 186,267 288,424 67,658Year-on-year chge. (%) -13.4 0.3 -11.4 28.4 54.8 38.5Non-hotelTotal 88,721 62,100 81,829 64,623 71,544 12,401Year-on-year chge. (%) 30.3 -30.1 31.8 -32.2 30.8 -9.8UnspecifiedTotal – 236 865 203 28 –Year-on-year chge. (%) – – 266.5 -74.5 -83.7 –

Brazil is the largest online market in South America, with approximately 80 million us-ers. Information about travel and bookings is obtained from the Internet, although the opin-ions of relatives, friends and acquaintances are very important and may be decisive. The number of queries posted on social networks and blogs has increased compared to previ-ous years. There is considerable growth in

online sales, although most travellers still shop in person.

Apart from these options most people con-sult guidebooks and travel agents and, to a lesser extent, travel magazines and televi-sion reports.

Brazilians have 20 days’ holiday a year, nor-mally in January and July, coinciding with the winter and summer school holidays.

Most Brazilian tourists come from the wealth-ier classes and they have a wide range of interests, including art, culture, nature and adventure. Sun and beach are not of great interest when they travel abroad, as they can enjoy them in Brazil.

In the case of Europe, the main reason for travelling is holidays and pleasure, followed by work and business and lastly visits to friends and relations. In Catalonia, holidays and pleasure are still the main reason, but business tourism, which was previously in second place, has fallen slightly in impor-tance.

Brazilian tourists immerse themselves in the culture of the country they visit, look for unique experiences and prefer quality to quantity.

Number of tourists visiting Spain (thousands) by main reason for travelling, 2006-2011


2007 2008 2009 2010* 2011 1st Q 2012*TOTAL

Total 252,061 226,110 227,731 241,094 360,006 80,059Year-on-year chge. (%) -1.8 -10.3 0.7 5.9 49.2 27.7Pleasure / holidayTotal 183,062 160,844 165,529 199,146 285,909 67,436Year-on-year chge. (%) -9.1 -12.1 2.9 20.3 43.57 31.10Work / businessTotal 28,788 32,383 27,653 17,280 26,884 4,989Year-on-year chge. (%) 15.7 12.5 -14.6 -37.5 55.6 29.9Personal / familyTotal 29,055 17,243 22,979 16,425 22,165 4,507Year-on-year chge. (%) 29.8 -40.7 33.3 -28.8 34.9 21.8OtherTotal 11,157 6,258 3,616 1,897 18,193 289Chge. (year-on-year) 36.9 0.6 -42.2 -74.5 859 -60.4

Trends and competitive positioningThe average length of stay in Spain is 4 to 7 nights, although over the last year there has been a substantial increase in stays of 8 to 15 days and a decrease in short stays of 1 to 3 nights, reflecting the fact that the country has positioned itself more strongly as a sin-gle destination rather than part of a circuit.

Travel packages are being displaced by in-dependent travel and tourists only visit travel agencies to deal with specific issues or to obtain more specialised information. In Spain only 16% of Brazilian tourists opted for pack-age tours. Prices are important when choos-ing a destination but cultural and linguistic proximity carry more weight.

Spain is sold as a single product and tours round the country are on offer or tours of Spain as part of a European tour. Barcelo-na is among the cities most often visited in Spain and in Europe. Many tours use Spain as a starting or finishing point.

There has been considerable growth in online sales.

brazilsouth america70 71markets

products vs. markets

Catalonia is a country with a wide variety of resources and at-

tractions. It has unique, highly valued cultural resources, icons

with a great reputation, excellent tourism infrastructures, nu-

merous urban destinations with character in very different

settings and a series of very beautiful landscapes, all giving

rise to a wide range of experiences.

When matching products and markets we need to focus on

how attractive and competitive the product category is, geo-

graphical proximity, and the stage in the product’s life in the

case of Catalonia as a destination.

products vs. markets72 7373

The markets at the forefront in the growing demand for the sun and beach product are Germany and the United Kingdom, which generated 78.6 million tourists in 2011. Our main competitors for this product are the rest of the Spanish coast, Greece and Turkey.

Sun and beach holidays attract many types of tourist from different segments, mainly those who want family holidays without spending as much as they would with other products. After families, the largest segment is senior tourists.

In the case of Catalonia tourists are offered trips to the Catalan coast so that they can relax and enjoy the Mediterranean sun and beach lifestyle. They are, moreover, visiting a coast with many additional attractions, such as water sports, gastronomy and other cul-tural activities. Visitors can also travel along all or part of the Catalan coast.

Average length of stay: 7 to 15 days.Season: summer

Product lines include:

• Coastal towns with special charm• Villages with a maritime tradition• Major beach resorts• Family holidays on the Catalan coast• Sailing and water sports in the Mediter-

ranean

catalan coast: sun and beachJourneys to the coast are mainly motivated by a desire to relax and enjoy the sun and the beach. The Catalan coast offers many and varied attractions. This includes the possibility of doing water sports and other complementary activities in the same setting, and visitors can travel along all or part of the Catalan coast.

priority markets: germany, austria, belgium, france, the netherlands, italy, nordic countries, the united kingdom, the rest of spain, russia and switzerland


Main destinations for Europeans

1 4

Top destinations in Europe

Destinations competing with Catalonia

5

3

2

% market share

Spain

TurkeyGreeceItalyCroatia

>20

>10

0

Country / region

Country / area

Spain Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Costa Brava, Costa Daurada, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol

France Côte d'Azur, CorsicaItaly Adriatic coast, Versilia,

Ligurian Riviera, Costa Smeralda

Greece Crete, Rhodes, CorfuPortugal AlgarveCroatia Istria, Dalmatia, KvarnerTurkey Aegean coast,

Mediterranean coast, Black Sea coast

Egypt Sharm el-Sheikh, HurghadaMorocco Agadir

Traditional destinations

Newdestinations

Profile of European tourists

Spending

Breakdown by seasons

Length of stay (days)

A high proportion of tourists are concentrated in the period May to August and most visits last at least a week.

Spain, Turkey and Greece stand out as the main destinations, as 50% of trips are to these countries. European tourists in search of sun and beach travel to various parts of the Mediterranean.

Sun and beach holidays attract all segments of the population to a greater or lesser extent and are especially popular with families. Spending levels are lower than with other tourism products.

catalan coast: sun and beach

The basic factors to compete internationally are:

• Excellent accessibility • Comprehensive food and accommodation

deals• Good value for money• Thematic activities and experiences avail-

able• Well-trained staff and good customer ser-

vice• Mild climate during most of the year• Plenty of clean beaches• Sufficient, suitable accommodation of ac-

ceptable quality near the beach• Proximity of a town or city to give more life

to the destination• Hospitable local population

Tourists travelling in Europe

Key factors for success are:

• Excellent conservation of the environment• Well-tended destinations without massive

tourist presence• Destinations with an identity of their own,

with strong, distinctive positioning• Qualified workforce with knowledge of lan-

guages and customer care skills• Varied, good quality additional attractions

(food, activities, shopping, etc.)• High levels of security

05 10 15 20 25

23%

18%

17%

14%

9%

7%

Families

SeniorsCouples without

childrenYoung

professionalsAdults without

childrenStudents

13% 25%

63%

From 1 to 3 From 4 to 7 From 8 to 14

14%

63%

11%

January - April May - August September - December

40%

60%

> €150 per night

€80-150 per night

< €80 per night

2011201020052000

+19.2%

65.9 67.674.9 78.6


78.6 million tourists chose sun and beach holidays in Europe in 2011; it is the largest sector in the European market and is standing up well to the crisis. Germany and the United Kingdom are the biggest consumers.

Main outbound markets in Europe

(% of total sun and beach travel)

05 10 15 20

Germany

United Kingdom

Nordic countries

Russia

France

20.0%

15.3%

8.5%

8.2%

7.8%

Short getaways, especially city breaks, are growing in importance. They have become the second most-popular type of travel in Eu-rope, with demand totalling about 46 million tourists. Germany and the United Kingdom are the largest outbound markets.

Getaways are usually to visit large towns with easy access and varied attractions or to at-tend major events. London and Paris top the European ranking in this segment. These breaks may be thematic (gastronomy, wine, sport, etc.) or intended to allow people to re-lax and enjoy nature.

Average daily spending is €100-€150 and they are less seasonal than other products, although good weather is an important con-sideration.

Average length of stay: 2 to 4 days, over a weekend or long weekend.Season: all year.


•Culture, gastronomy and wine, with special features. Visitors may enjoy access to re-stricted architectural sites, attend cookery classes with chefs, harvest and taste wine, etc.

•Cities with character.•Getaways with a theme: culture, gastrono-

my, wine, countryside, nature, adventure, sport, special interest, etc.

getawaysShort trips, over a weekend or long weekend, to discover a city, enjoy an event or just relax in the country and enjoy nature. These getaways may be thematic (gastronomy, wine, sport, etc.).

priority markets: germany, austria, the united states, france, italy, nordic countries, the united kingdom, the rest of spain, russia, singapore, switzerland and china


Main destinations for Europeans taking city breaks

Getaways are less seasonal than other products, as they are available throughout the year, although they are more attractive when the weather is good. People usually choose weekends or long weekends for this type of trip.

Getaways tend to be to large towns which are attractive and easily accessible: London and Paris are at the forefront, both in city breaks and travel for major events. Barcelona is the leading destination in Catalonia.

Getaways are taken by most segments in the population. Spending averages €100-€150 per day, although this can vary according to the destination, and the services and activities chosen.

Profile of European tourists Breakdown by seasons

% market share

London

Paris

BerlinRomeMadridBarcelonaPragueVienna

>20

>10

>15

0

getaways


City breaks are growing in importance and are now the second most-popular type of travel in Europe. In 2011 demand reached 46 million. Germany and the United Kingdom are the largest outbound markets.

The basic factors to compete internationally are:•The availability of cultural attractions for

tourists•Proximity to outbound markets•Significant volume of accommodation of

an appropriate standard•Inter-city transport services •An effective system for signposting tour-

ism resources and attractions

Key factors for success are:•Excellent accessibility•Comprehensive food and accommodation

deals•Good value for money•Thematic activities and experiences avail-

able•Well-trained staff and good customer ser-

vice•Mild climate during most of the year

05 10 15 20 25

21%

20%

19%

18%

14%

8%

05

Couples without children

Adults without children

Young professionals

Seniors

Students

Families


50%43%

7%

From 1 to 3 From 4 to 7 From 8 to 14

26%

41%33%


Spending

27%

73%

>€150 per night

€80-€150 per night

<€80 per night


2011201020052000

+35.3%

34.3 37.342.6 46.4

Main outbound markets for Europe

(% of city break travel)

15129630

Germany

United Kingdom

Nordic countries

Spain

The Netherlands

14.2%

12.3%

11.5%

8.6%

6.9%

This is the third most-popular type of travel in Europe, with demand at 41 million; France and Italy are the largest outbound markets. These long journeys enable visitors to dis-cover the most representative attractions of a region, its culture and traditions, etc. Routes may be general or related to a theme (culture, gastronomy, wine, the coast, etc.). Spain is the top destination for this type of travel, followed by France, Italy and Germa-ny. Travel can be organised or independent, in tourists’ own vehicles.

Users are mostly middle-aged adults and seniors travelling in a group. They have con-siderable purchasing power. Daily spending averages €110-€150.

Average length of stay: 6 to 10 days.Season: mostly in summer and mid-season if the weather is good.


•Major cultural and natural icons such as Montserrat, the Sagrada Família, the Dalí triangle, Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, the Ebro Delta, etc.

•The 5 main routes through Catalonia: major icons and experiences built into routes.

•Thematic routes: culture, nature, wine and gastronomy, luxury, etc.

routesLong journeys to discover the most representative attractions of a region, its culture and traditions, etc. Routes may be general or related to a theme (culture, gastronomy, wine, the coast, etc.).

priority markets: germany, austria, belgium, the united states, france, the netherlands, italy, the united kingdom, the rest of spain, russia, switzerland and china


Profile of European tourists Breakdown by seasons

Trips mainly take place in high and mid-season, when weather and temperatures are most favourable. Tours usually last between 1 and 2 weeks.

Users are mostly middle-aged adults and seniors travelling in groups. They have considerable purchasing power and average daily spending is €110 - €150.

Spain is the top destination for this type of travel, followed by France, Italy and Germany. Trips may be organised or made in tourists’ own vehicles.

1

2

3

4

5



% market share

Spain

Croatia

FranceItalyGermany

>15

>5

>10

0

routes


Routes are the third most-popular type of travel in Europe, with demand at 41 million in 2011. France and Italy are the largest outbound markets.

The basic factors to compete internationally are:•A large number of major tourist attractions

to create a critical mass•Availability of structured routes•Good internal communications and access

routes•Food, accommodation and basic services

available in all parts of the route

Key factors for success are:•Excellent accessibility•An effective system for signposting tourism

resources and attractions•Authentic destinations•Authentic, varied and innovative experi-

ences should be developed•Tourists should be able to obtain informa-

tion, book and make purchases on line or using mobiles

•Mild climate during most of the year


58%

42%

From 4 to 7 From 8 to 14

27%

52%

21%


05 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

37%

23%

18%

14%

8%

2%

05

SeniorsAdults without

childrenFamilies

Adults withoutchildren

Youngprofessionals

Students

Spending

25%

50%

25%

>€150 per night


<€80 per night


Main outbound markets for Europe

(% of all tours)

12 159630

France

Italy

Nordic countries

Germany

Russia

12.3%

10.5%

9.7%

8.9%

6.2%

2011201020052000

+30.5%

31.4 33.9 36.641.0

Nearly 17 million European travellers opted to spend holidays enjoying nature, natural parks, the mountains and the countryside. Germany is the largest outbound market for this type of travel. Up to now Western Europe has led the market but Eastern Europe is becoming a strong competitor.

Travellers are usually groups of adults without children and seniors. They spend less than those choosing other tourism products.

In Catalonia tourists can choose a lighter ver-sion and spend their time walking, going on easy hikes, hiking, pony trekking, etc. Alterna-tively they can choose a tougher version and do adventure sports. The trip may use a town as a base to explore the area or move from place to place.

Average length of stay: 7 to 10 days, over a weekend or long weekend.Season: especially in summer or at times when the weather is good (May to August).


•Experiences and natural and rural spaces, such as staying in inland parts of Catalonia and the Pyrenees, activities in natural parks and other open spaces, etc.

•Adventure and activity tourism, such as pony trekking, balloon flights, parachuting, paintball, climbing, etc.

•100% cycling and walking, for example along the Saint James’ Way, GR and PR trails, on-road and off-road cycling, etc.

•Family holidays in a natural setting, where the above products are adapted to the needs of families.

•Fun in the snow, with activities such as ski-ing, snowboarding, snow-shoes, trekking, etc.

•Adventure and activity tourism in the Cata-lan Pyrenees, e.g. rafting, canoeing, etc., in addition to snow-related activities.

nature, inland, mountains and adventureTrips to enjoy nature, parks, the mountains and the countryside. In the ‘softer’ version, tourists spend their time walking, going on easy hikes, pony trekking, etc. In the ‘tougher’ version, tourists do adventure sports. The trip may use a town as a base to explore the area or move from place to place.

priority markets: germany, belgium, france, the netherlands, italy, the united kingdom and the rest of spain


Profile of European tourists

Over half of visitors are concentrated in the months May to August and most trips take place at weekends or over long weekends.

Nature tourism attracts mostly adults without children and seniors. Travellers spend less than those choosing other tourism products.

nature, inland, mountains and adventure

Western Europe leads the market but Eastern Europe is also becoming popular.

6

1

3

5

4



% market share

AustriaItalySwitzerlandGermany

France

Spain

>15

>5

>10

0

Main destinations for Europeans

2

Nature travel in Europe Main outbound markets in Europe

(% of all nature trips)

In 2011, 16.8 million trips in Europe were made so that people could enjoy activities in nature. Germany is the main outbound market for this type of travel.

Key factors for success are:•A wide range of activities with specialist pro-

fessional guides•Additional attractions linked to themes such

as discovering local culture or cuisine•The existence of towns and villages with

charm and authentic areas of great natural beauty

•Easy access to the destination, routes and natural parks

The basic factors to compete internationally are:•Environmental awareness and well-con-

served destinations•Significant volume of accommodation of an

appropriate standard•A range of well-marked routes and circuits,

both of general interest and specifically for mountain bikers, cyclists, hikers, bird watch-ers, etc.

•Mild climate during most of the year•Good value for money•Basic transport connections (by air or over-

land)


50% 50%

From 1 to 3 From 4 to 7

Breakdown by seasons

23%

51%

27%


Adults withoutchildrenSeniors

Families

StudentsCouples without

childrenYoung

professionals

Spending

56%

44%>€150 per night


<€80 per night

2011201020052000

+57.2%

16.6 16.820.4

26.1

Germany

United Kingdom

The Netherlands

Nordic countries

France

49.0%

15.4%

10.3%

8.9%

5.1%


In 2010 meeting tourism attracted over 7 mil-lion visitors. Growth in this sector has been halted by the crisis. Nevertheless, it is a very attractive sector, providing better returns than other products.

The leading markets in MICE tourism are Germany and the United Kingdom. Barcelo-na holds second place in the ranking of cities organising most international meetings.

Catalonia can add value to trips of this type because of the services it offers, its infra-structures, spaces and resources, in urban and inter-urban locations which meet the needs of companies. MICE tourism allows travellers to meet a small, medium-sized or large group of people to exchange ideas, work, innovate, build teams, etc., and can be used to provide incentives for staff.

Average length of stay: 2 to 4 days.Season: all year except summer.


•Catalonia Congresses and Events (gener-ally large-format congresses)

•Different-sized meetings aimed mainly at small groups, in attractive settings which stimulate participants’ imagination and en-courage them to ‘think outside the box’.

•Team-building in Catalonia: meetings at-tended by 50-100 participants in a setting which is very different from the workplace.

•Meetings in non-urban locations allowing participants to enjoy outdoor leisure activi-ties.

•Incentive trips to Catalonia or incentive stays for employees, based on other prod-uct lines.

MICE

Trips to meet a small, medium-sized or large group of people to exchange ideas, work, innovate, build teams, etc., or provide incentives for staff. Catalonia can add value to this type of trip because of the services it offers, its infrastructures, spaces and resources, in urban and inter-urban locations which meet the needs of companies.

priority markets: germany, austria, france, italy, nordic countries, the united kingdom, the rest of spain, russia, singapore, switzerland and china


Spending Breakdown of daily spending

MICE tourism is a very attractive sector, as it brings to the destination income well above that generated by other sectors, such as traditional sun and beach holidays. Events tend to be organised when the weather is better, they last 3 to 4 days on average and are attended by a wide range of professional profiles.

Seven of the ten cities organising the most international meetings are in Europe. Barcelona is in second place, with nearly 150 meetings held in 2010.

Seasonality: the period from May to November (excluding the months of July and August) has always been the most popular for organising in-ternational meetings. Most meetings are annual events.

Length of trip: the average length of internation-al meetings has fallen in recent years and now stands at 3.85 days.

Profile of tourists: business tourism segments, according to Concur study:

• Veterans: enthusiastic and very experienced • Unmotivated: frequent travellers but not enthu-

siastic; they avoid travelling if they can• Insecure: worried and anxious about the chal-

lenges involved in trips• Technological: young and very enthusiastic,

they adapt to any technological innovation• Traveller 2.0: inexperienced but very enthu-

siastic, adaptable, keen to explore and share experience

MICE

Main destinations in EuropeInternational meeting market share by continent

World Europe CityMeetings

2005Meetings

2010

1 1 Vienna 144 1542 2 Barcelona 135 1483 3 Paris 132 1474 4 Berlin 106 1386 5 Madrid 69 1147 6 Istanbul 60 1098 7 Lisbon 86 1069 8 Amsterdam 103 10414 9 London 104 9715 10 Copenhagen 83 92

MICE tourism in Europe Main outbound markets in Europe

(% of all meeting trips)

In 2010, MICE tourism attracted 7.1 million visitors, but growth in this sector has been halted by the crisis. Germany and the United Kingdom are the largest markets.

The basic factors to compete internationally are:•Wide range of modern infrastructures and

centres where meetings can be held.•Accommodation of different categories

(mainly 4- and 5-star)•Good accessibility and proximity to out-

bound markets•Local and private transport services•High levels of security

Key factors for success are:•Excellent access (direct flights, low-cost

airlines, etc.)•State-of-the-art infrastructures with the lat-

est technology•Hotels with facilities for meetings and ad-

ditional services •Availability of pre- and post-meeting activi-

ties

57%18%

8%

4%

2%Africa

Australia

South America

North America

Asia

Europe

Conventions and congresses

$305

$100

Sun and beach

33%

29%

6%5% 3%

13%

11%

Other

Transport

Leisure

Shopping

Food

Accommodation

Registration fees2020*2015*2011*2000

+29.3%

7.14 7.35 7.969.23

Germany

United Kingdom

Nordic countries

France

Russia

15.4%

12.6%

7.0%

5.8%

5.3%


Trips to pursue a hobby or other activity peo-ple like in depth. The destination chosen will be one recognised as having natural or cul-tural resources allowing visitors to pursue their interest.

Average length of stay: very variable.Season: all year.


•SportsholidaysinCatalonia•GolfinCatalonia•LearningtocookinCatalonia•PlacesofreligiousinterestinCatalonia•Healthandwellness•AccessibletravelinCatalonia•ResponsibletourisminCatalonia•Cataloniafor50+

special interest holidaysTrips to pursue a hobby or other activity people like in depth. The destination chosen will be one recognised as having natural or cultural resources allowing visitors to pursue their interest.

priority markets: germany, belgium, the united states, france, the netherlands, nordic countries, the united kingdom, russia, singapore and china


appendixstatistics

Marketing intelligence is one of the key issues to be tackled in

the coming years; work needs to be done both on analysing

market structures and trends and on monitoring the activities

of tourists and visitor satisfaction and loyalty.

This appendix contains tables summarising statistics of IET op-

erations: the survey Moviments Turístics en Fronteres [Tour-

ist Movement at Borders] (Frontur) and the survey Despesa

Turística [Tourist Spending] (Egatur), broken down by country

as far as possible within the limitations of the sample.

97appendix96 97

france italy

appendix98 99

Tourists resident in France whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators. September 2013

Source: IET Frontur and Egatur

*€K: thousands of euros

**Type of accommodationHotels and similar establishmentsFree accommodation: own property, friends and family, time share accommodationRented accommodation: rented directly or via an agencyOther accommodation: campsites, caravans, rural tourism accommodation, other

***Items of expenditureTour package: the cost of the package itselfAccommodation and other: includes all payments related to accommodationTransport: return travel and transport at the destinationRestaurants and other: meals and other items consumed in restaurantsFood and other: drinks and other (cleaning and pharmaceutical products, etc.)Excursions and other: cultural activities, sport, shopping

Note: if the sample is not sufficiently representative, the IET does not report figures.






Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthPleasure / holiday 82.6% 80.0%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 8.0% –Study 1.5% –Personal (family, health, shopping) 5.9% –Other 2.0% –

Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthAir 21.7% 16.6%Sea 0.5% –Train 0.4% –Own vehicle 77.4% 82.5%

Type of accommodation** total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthHotels and similar establishments 53.0% 59.0%Free accommodation 26.6% –Rented accommodation 11.7% –Other accommodation 8.7% –

Duration of stay total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for month1 night 10.9% –From 2 to 3 nights 32.9% 40.3%From 4 to 7 nights 38.0% 33.1%From 8 to 15 nights 12.7% –Over 15 nights 5.5% –

Item*** total % for month % of totalTour package 1.6% 0.1%Accommodation and other 33.9% 26.4%Transport 21.6% 22.3%Restaurants and other 17.5% 16.8%Food and other 8.8% 9.4%Excursions and other 16.8% 25.1%

Breakdown of spending by tourists

Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthPleasure / holiday 75.0% 76.6%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 10.8% 10.7%Study 6.8% 6.6%Personal (family, health, shopping) 4.2% 2.4%Other 3.2% 3.7%

Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthAir 75.0% 71.0%Sea 14.4% 18,3%Train 0.1% -Own vehicle 10.5% 10.6%

Type of accommodation** total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthHotels and similar establishments 73.4% 75.7%Free accommodation 14.1% 8.7%Rented accommodation 10.0% 11.9%Other accommodation 2.5% 3.7%

Duration of stay total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for month1 night 4.2% 5.8%From 2 to 3 nights 28.5% 16.3%From 4 to 7 nights 54.2% 63.6%From 8 to 15 nights 10.5% 11.0%Over 15 nights 2.5% 3.3%



Tourists resident in Italy whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators. September 2013

united kingdom germany

appendix100 101

Tourists resident in the United Kingdom whose main destination is Catalonia.Basic indicators. September 2013

Tourists resident in Germany whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators. September 2013











Tourist profile


Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthAir 95.8% 95.6%Sea 0.5% 0.7%Train 0.3% 0.2%Own vehicle 3.3% 3.5%





Tourist profile







appendix102 103

switzerland

Tourists resident in Switzerland whose main destination is Catalonia.Basic indicators. September 2013

belgium

Tourists resident in Belgium whose main destination is CataloniaBasic indicators. September 2013











Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 monthsPleasure / holiday 82.0%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 9.1%Study 1.7%Personal (family, health, shopping) 4.9%Other 2.4%

Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 monthsAir 84.4%Sea 0.2%Train 0.3%Own vehicle 15.2%

Type of accommodation** total cumulative % in last 12 monthsHotels and similar establishments 66.9%Free accommodation 21.6%Rented accommodation 9.3%Other accommodation 2.1%

Duration of stay total cumulative % in last 12 months1 night 3.5%From 2 to 3 nights 25.8%From 4 to 7 nights 52.0%From 8 to 15 nights 14.1%Over 15 nights 4.7%

Item*** % of totalTour package 6.8%Accommodation and other 23.5%Transport 30.4%Restaurants and other 17.6%Food and other 4.2%Excursions and other 17.4%


Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 monthsPleasure / holiday 86.2%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 9.4%Study 0.3%Personal (family, health, shopping) 2.9%Other 1.3%

Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 monthsAir 61.1%Sea 0.9%Train 0.1%Own vehicle 38.0%

Type of accommodation** total cumulative % in last 12 monthsHotels and similar establishments 57.8%Free accommodation 23.8%Rented accommodation 10.9%Other accommodation 7.4%

Duration of stay total cumulative % in last 12 months1 night 3.1%From 2 to 3 nights 19.8%From 4 to 7 nights 45.0%From 8 to 15 nights 23.2%Over 15 nights 9.0%

Item*** % of totalTour package 9.0%Accommodation and other 26.6%Transport 25.2%Restaurants and other 16.2%Food and other 7.3%Excursions and other 15.8%


nordic countries

appendix104 105

the netherlandsTourists resident in the Netherlands whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators. September 2013

Tourists resident in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators September 2013











Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthPleasure / holiday 86.9% 78.4%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 8.8% 18.5%Study 0.6% -Personal (family, health, shopping) 3.0% -Other 0.7% -

Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthAir 70.1% 70.2%Sea 0.8% 1.1%Train 0.0% -Own vehicle 29.1% 28.7%





Tourist profile







appendix106 107

russiaTourists resident in Russia whose main destination is CataloniaBasic indicators. September 2013

Tourists resident in the United States whose main destination is Catalonia.Basic indicators. September 2013

united states











Tourist profile

Reason for trip total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthPleasure / holiday 93.8% 96.8%Work / business / trade fairs and conferences 5.2% 1.4%Study 0.1% -Personal (family, health, shopping) 0.4% 0.0%Other 0.5% 1.8%






Tourist profile




Duration of stay total cumulative % in last 12 months 3.8%1 night 5.4% 29.6%From 2 to 3 nights 29.5% 37.6%From 4 to 7 nights 38.9% 23.2%From 8 to 15 nights 18.7% 5.8%Over 15 nights 7.5% 2.6%

Item*** total % for month % of totalTour package 26.5% -Accommodation and other 15.4% -Transport 32.9% -Restaurants and other 10.2% -Food and other 1.6% -Excursions and other 13.5% -


appendix108 109

foreign residents

Foreign residents whose main destination is Catalonia. Basic indicators. September 2013






Balanç turístic 2012. Observatori d’Empresa i Ocupació. Generalitat de Catalunya.

Familitur, forecast for June 2012.

Familitur. IET.

FUR Reiseanalyse 2013.

Instituto de Estudios Turísticos.

Ministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, Jahreswirtschaftsbericht 2013.

Observatori de Turisme de Catalunya.

Ranking Hosteltur de Grandes Redes de Agencias de Viaje.

LookInSide.Travel 2012.

Reiseanalyse 2013, Erste Ausgewählte Ergeb-nisse der 43.

SECO 2011.

Series Contabilidad Nacional INE 2012 and Contabilidad Regional 2011, www.ine.es.

Tourism Economics.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Argentina mercado em-isor.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Austria mercado emisor.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Brasil mercado emisor.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Suiza mercado emisor.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Visión general del país. Argentina.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Visión general del país. Austria.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Visión general del país. Brasil.

TURESPAÑA (2011). Estudios de mercados turísticos emisores. Visión general del país. Suiza.

bibliography

Tourist profile


Means of transport total cumulative % in last 12 months total % for monthAir 66.8% 70,7%Sea 1.5% 1.7%Train 0.4% 0.3%Own vehicle 31.2% 27.3%





Legal deposit: B 7708-2014

appendix110 111

BeneluxCATALAN TOURIST BOARDWetstraat 227 Rue de la Loi (3ème étage)BRUXELLES [email protected] 26 406 151

Nordic CountriesCATALAN TOURIST BOARDKorkeavuorenkatu 30 A 00130 [email protected] 84 07 17 72 95

FranceCATALAN TOURIST BOARD50, rue Saint FerdinandPARIS [email protected] 1 40 46 97 97

United Kingdom and IrelandCATALAN TOURIST BOARD17, Fleet Street (3rd Floor) LONDON EC4Y [email protected] 075 838 855

Central EuropeCATALAN TOURIST BOARDPalmengartenstrasse, 6 60325 FRANKFURTAM [email protected] 69 7422 4873

SpainTOURIST INFORMATION OFFICE OF CATALONIACentre Cultural BlanquernaAlcalá, 44 28014 [email protected] 915 241 000

ItalyCATALAN TOURIST BOARDVia Montebello, 27 20121 [email protected] 02 87393573

Russia and Eastern EuropeCATALAN TOURIST BOARDUl.Serafimovicha 2/20 entrance 12office 219 MOSCOW [email protected] 495 567 1871

ChinaCATALAN TOURIST BOARDCapital Mansion, Room 1906nº6, Xin Yuan Nan Rd.Chaoyang District BEIJING [email protected] 10 84 86 82 84

Asia PacificCATALAN TOURIST BOARD 10 Anson Road International Plaza 25 – 07 SINGAPORE [email protected] 65 62204022

United States, Canada and MexicoCATALAN TOURIST BOARD360 Lexington Avenue,Suite 1801NEW YORK NY [email protected] 1 212 7823332

South AmericaCATALAN TOURIST BOARDAvda. Juscelino Kubitschek, 1726, 11º andar, conj.111/11204543-000 Vila Olímpia - São Paulo SP [email protected] 11 30530477

catalan tourist board offices abroad

www.act.cat www.catalunya.com

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