Barcelona aims to become southern Europe’s top Christmas destination

The tourism office and train operator RENFE, have announced a joint campaign to bring Spanish and European visitors to the city during the winter. The plan in which Barcelona aims to become Southern Europe’s top Christmas destination, will see the pair jointly push what the city has to offer.

The Catalan capital, already a firm favourite with visitors has a lot to offer according to Marian Muro, the Tourism Office’s Director. Talking about the campaign, which will highlight what the city has to offer, Muro “This is the first time we have presented a Christmas campaign in Madrid because we want to have an impact on visitors from well-established markets, and the main cities connected by the high-speed rail network, including Bilbao and Valencia.” The campaign will also focus on “European markets, such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the Netherlands.”

As part of the promotional efforts the tourism office has produced a video that takes the viewer for a walk through the city’s retail, food and cultural attractions. Set during the Christmas season, the video follows the journey of a young couple who remember their last visit to the city and the reason why they fell in love.

RENFE are supporting the campaign with promotional advertising.

Last Christmas was affected by the pandemic resulting in six out of 10 visitors coming from Spain. This year the city hopes to regain French, Italian and British tourists, a group that represented one out of every four visitors prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign focuses on attractions but also on retail as European and US visitors tend to spend more than 22% of their budget during their stays in this sector, according to figures shared by the tourism office. Gastronomy is still the main expense account for 45% of all spend.

The city believe that they have a lot to offer and that with this promotional push they can become Southern Europe’s top Christmas destination.

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