Новости

This week Calella has participated in the International Tourism Industry Exhibition IFTM-TOP RESA in Paris, considered as France’s leading event for professionals of the tourist sector. This year, there were more than 1,700 brands and 166 destinations. During the previous edition, the exhibition registered more than 30,000 visitors.

Calella has been present at the stand of the Council of Barcelona (Diputació de Barcelona) and Turespaña, joining the panel of destinations that promote the Barcelona Coast (Costa de Barcelona). The fair, which is focused on tourism professionals, allowed our representative from Calella to get interviews and meetings with agencies and tour operators in the French market. This event becomes an opportunity to promote our destination and to show all the tourist attractions in Calella, such as culture, family tourism, sports and cycling tourism.

France, the main source of tourism in Catalonia

In 2016 Catalonia received a total of 4,568,200 French tourists, being the first source market for foreign tourism in Catalonia, according to data from Generalitat de Catalunya.

The main reasons of French tourists for coming to Catalonia are cultural resources, good gastronomy and visits to family and friends. It is a market of proximity, with tourists who mainly arrive to the destination in their own vehicle and for short stays. The French school calendar, which includes five different vacation periods, lead to family breaks outside of the usual dates. It contributes to keep visitor flows throughout the year and helps tourism to become non-seasonal.

Regarding Calella, it is worth noting the good performance of this market during the last three years and especially in 2014 (+ 30.1%) and 2016 (+ 37.63%). During 2016, a total of 158,935 overnight stays of French market were registered in Calella, placing it in the fifth nationality that most visited our city behind German, Spanish, British and Russian. On the other hand, visits to the website calellabarcelona.com from France have grown by 23% and when they do from mobile devices this indicator shows an increase of 235%. Concerning demographic data on the visitors, the provenance is mainly located in Ile de France and Occitania. In relation to the contents most visited by French users, the most important are: summer holidays, culture (things to do), how to get there, lodging, where to eat and shopping.