Cruises and recreational sailing boost tourism in Barcelona
12 March, 2025Barcelona has hosted the Wanderlust Meeting Brands, an event organised by the Of Course Club - a business club formed during the pandemic - which analysed the impact of cruises and recreational sailing on both the city and Catalonia as a whole.
The cruise director of the Port of Barcelona, María del Mar Pérez, explained that this infrastructure registers 3,655,981 journeys, i.e. over 2.5 million passengers, taking into account both the embarkation and disembarkation of the ships that start and end their itineraries in Barcelona.
The conference was held at the Nobu Barcelona hotel. © Wanderlust Meeting Brands
The latter account for 56% of the total. These are passengers who stay overnight in the city before or after the cruise and in some cases extend their holidays with a stay of several days at their destination. With the consequent impact that these stays have on hotels, restaurants, museums or other local tourist service companies.