Image and Promotion
Barcelona is able to promote their city by holding many events and campaigns to make their city appeal to various different tourists. Barcelona has grown in image over the last few years due to various things. The events has made Barcelona’s image good but images can leave a negative affect also.
Barcelona appeals to tourists due to its warm climate and longer sunlight during days. With more sunlight during the days this allows tourists to view more attractions and spend time in the sun to catch a tan. This also applies to the business customer having to work outside and getting more of the job done. It has been known in the past for Barcelona to have droughts due to very hot summers. This will have a negative affect on tourists and business customers due to water shortage. Barcelona will be able to maintain their image by making sure that there is enough water for people.
Barcelona had a massive boost of tourism population after the Olympic Games during the year 1992. Barcelona had a huge impact from the Olympic Games enabling them to make buildings and also update old ones. Barcelona also created many big landmarks to attract tourists whilst a new harbour was built. When people saw the Olympic Games and saw how lovely Barcelona was many tourists began to visit sites located within Barcelona. This is a main impact that improved Barcelona’s image and appeal over the years.
Barcelona’s image has also grown due to Barcelona football club accumulating one of the biggest stadiums in the world. This stadium is called Camp Nou and holds a massive 98,000 football fans which itself is a main attraction. Barcelona also has some of the biggest football players in world and these consist of Ronaldinho, Eto and Deco. Newspapers all over the world have been interested in the football players and have shown various images of Barcelona. This makes it more appealing to football fans and also tourists that would like to view the stadium. Although Barcelona is a great team there is a huge rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid and this may give a negative image to tourists who dislike rivalry and competitive sports.
Barcelona has different images but one main image is of its beautiful landmarks, art galleries and museums located around it. The key landmark in Barcelona is the Torre De Collserola that is situated on the Collserola hill. This is just one of many landmarks located there. Barcelona has a lot of churches and museums and this gives a culture and heritage effect on tourists. A reason for this image is due to various art images from the artists Picasso and Goudi but also it being a catholic country.
Barcelona has other attractions that will appeal to tourists and these are natural attractions. Beaches are available to tourists that would like to relax by the sea. The most common beach in Barcelona is the Platja de Sant Sebastià beach and has over four kilometres of coastline. Another natural attraction would be the Parc de la Ciutadella which is one of the most popular garden parks visited in Barcelona. Tourists using these attractions would be the more relaxing tourist that is happy with just looking at a few sites. Barcelona could promote these to tourists to make the attractions more appealing.
Availability of attractions and other tourist facilities
Barcelona consists of many tourist attractions and these can be found all over Barcelona. There is a very good quote that describes Barcelona “one of the most dynamic and stylish cities in the world” (www.lonelyplanet.com) and this is due to its improved facilities. Many business travellers will travel to Barcelona due to its business orientated facilities it has to offer. By having facilities for business travellers broadens its type of tourists that will travel to Barcelona and this will maximise its appeal and promote the destination more.
When tourists are looking for accommodation in Barcelona there are various ways to do this. Depending on the type of tourists there are hostels, hotels and bed and breakfasts available. Barcelona has many hotels that accommodate to tourists that either have a half-board service or all inclusive. These hotels would range from two star hotels to five star hotels, which would be for Business travellers who would like business facilities available. There are six hostels in Barcelona who would accommodate for young students wishing to view Barcelona due to minimum funds being spent on accommodation. When using these hostels it allows students to view some historic and cultural sites within Barcelona and to give its maximum appeal to young tourists. There are smaller hotels that will accommodate for people that like to self cater for themselves. Barcelona caters to different types of tourists and the most popular being families and young students. Business travellers are starting to increase due to Barcelona’s business facilities being improved and this will appeal more to the business traveller.
Tourists are able to eat within their hotels but many tourists eat out in local restaurants to taste Barcelona’s traditional food. There will be various restaurants located near the hotels to draw tourists in. This will maximise its appeal to tourists because of tourists being well preserved with its cuisine. Barcelona is famous for its fresh seafood, Paella and its fresh fruit and vegetables that will be served in local restaurants all the time. Spain also has many rich wines that attracts tourists with its variety of choice and its attractive prices. Tourists will attracted to Barcelona’s rich food and this will leave a good image on Barcelona. Barcelona is starting to extend its international chain restaurants to appeal to family tourists that will like to eat something familiar. This also applies to international cuisine due to business travellers wanting to eat food from their own nation. Barcelona has a wide range of food services to appeal to the different types of tourists that they attract.
Tourists will look for entertainment and the most popular in Barcelona apart from football is cycling. Cycling is seen as a big entertainment all over Spain but particularly in Barcelona due to it being a national sport but also a past time sport. Tourists will be attracted to this because they will want to fit in with Barcelona’s tradition and this is one way. Another growing tradition within Barcelona is bowling and there are various venues for this. Young students that wish to see films in Barcelona are able to due to films being played in English as well as Spanish. There are many bars and nightclubs within Barcelona that will attract young people but there are more bars than nightclubs. Irish bars a common in Barcelona and will appeal to British tourists. Many of these Irish bars will attract tourists that are celebrating a stag or hen night.
Barcelona has many events all year round but these will be for the locals but will appeal to a large range of tourist who will want to join in the tradition and culture. There is a carnival in March and a festival for couples in April. By having events all year round will attract tourists in autumn and spring as well as summer. This will maximise its appeal due to tourists joining in with the locals.
Barcelona has a wide range of accommodation for different types of tourists and this will make Barcelona more popular and give a better image. Barcelona also provides different types of attractions whether it being a museum or a nightclub, and having this will appeal to different types of tourists again. By appealing to different tourists this will maximise its image and will keep its appeal to every tourist type.
Destination Management
When going to Barcelona you will have to consider travelling within Barcelona and yet again there are different ways to do this. When travelling one place to another in Barcelona this can be done easily by public transport, as it is with England. You may also use different methods to travel whilst in Barcelona.
Public Transport can be seen as the first option when travelling around Barcelona and the most common used by tourists are buses. Buses are easiest to use when travelling because tourists will have to wait a maximum of twenty minutes to catch a bus. When travelling on a bus it also allows the tourists to view sites whilst travelling. Travelling on buses is a cheap way to travel and there are also special buses that run past midnight for those young tourists that have been to nightclubs.
When travelling by taxi in Barcelona there are many taxi bays that will be waiting to pick tourists up. This is an expensive way of travelling but is quicker and more effective for business tourists. Clubbers will use this way of travelling at night due to no other public services running still.
The quickest and cheapest way to travel around Barcelona is by the subway and this is a very easy way to travel. The subway is open all day till 11 pm on weekdays whilst it runs till 1am during weekends. When travelling by subway tourists do not have the aggravation of roadwork’s or busy roads.
There are various tour buses that will take tourists around Barcelona showing them different sites. These tour buses will have a red band around them making tourists aware of its travel purpose.
Tourists are able to travel around Barcelona in a hired car but this may not be the best way to travel due to busy roads and impatient tourists crossing the roads. Tourism will bring financial benefit to lots of natural and built attractions but these attractions will need to be looked after and preserved tourists in the future can come and see them for years to come. There needs to be a plan of where the destination wants to be in the future and also take into account the day to day running of an area such as signs for tourists to find where places are. Good customer service training in hotels and restaurants is a key factor, keeping cities and beaches clean and free of litter or pollution is a necessity. An Authority or a local tourist board will usually be appointed to do these and make sure everything is running well.
Overall transport within Barcelona has been updated and made better due to the profit from the Olympic Games. Public transport is a very safe way to travel and is nearly always on time. This has made it easy for tourists to travel around Barcelona and rely on public transport safely. This will appeal to tourists because it shows that Barcelona is trying to better their public transport and also make roads smoother and better.
Safety and security within Barcelona does not seem to be a big issue as there has not been any terrorist attacks or any shootings. Within Barcelona there is crime but it is not a major problem as there is crime every where tourists will go. With crime being so low in Barcelona this will appeal to tourists due to Barcelona not getting a bad image on international news for crime. Whilst tourists are in Barcelona they will feel safe due to the low crime history Barcelona has.
Cost of Visiting
Over the last few years Barcelona has grown into a rich and strong economy due to tourists within Europe travelling there and spending money on products that will cost more in their own country. Ships that travel around the Mediterranean will stop at Barcelona, passengers on board are able to spend time within Barcelona and spend their money there. Spain’s currency is the Euro and this alone will attract tourists due to tourists living with Europe will not have to change their money. Although England still has the pound they will still be attracted to Barcelona because of currency fluctuation. English tourists will be able to get more for there money when exchanging it to Euros due to having 1.4 Euros the pound. This will appeal to tourists because they will be able to make their money go further and maybe save money also when travelling to Barcelona.
To get to Barcelona via airplane is very cheap and easy due to Airline companies competing with one another. There is now “no frill” flights scheme that allows tourists to travel to Barcelona at a cheap price (). Prices for scheduled flights have also decreased to compete with budget airlines and other companies. This will appeal to tourists because it is an easy way to get there and at a very small price. This is a good thing that the government has allowed to proceed with budget airlines because it shows that they want tourists to visit Spain.
To eat out in Barcelona can vary from being an expensive meal to a cheap meal. This is due to restaurants attracting different types of tourists such as business tourists and package holiday tourists. This will appeal to tourists due to the wide selection that they can pick from and also to see how the Barcelona has dealt with different types of tourists, from families with young children, couples, senior citizens and people with special interests.
Accommodation within Barcelona again may vary from being expensive to cheap. There are hostels and five star hotels that tourists can pick from. The five star hotels will appeal to business travellers that will wish to carry on working with business facilities available. Hostels in Barcelona will attract students wanting to spend a minimum sum on accommodation and spend there time looking at sights. Accommodation is very good in Barcelona due to the Olympics and having to accommodate for athletes. This again will appeal to a wide range of tourists wanting to stay in Barcelona.
Political Factors
Governments all over the world need to decide whether to focus their attention on their tourism industry or other things. Spain is a very good example to look at in the tourism industry. This will encourage development and building programmes and will impose strict laws and regulations. Flooding an area with more development will make it appear to be a more upbeat are with its new buildings i.e. hotels and apartments. This promote the area to be a cleaner image whether it being a city or a beach area.
Due to Spain being within the EU their will be agreements that will allow people to move around and also on trade. Spain are still encouraging British tourists to live their but it is still vital to take good legal advice before buying a villa there. Recently land has been reclaimed by the Spanish Authorities and there have been many villas pulled down that have left people without a home and very little money.
When looking at Spain and its political factors there are various subjects that will appeal to tourists, these will either be negative or positive factors. The popularity of Spanish tourists may fall due to big issues with the Basque and Islamist terrorism. This has not yet come to Barcelona but due to Barcelona’s rise in tourism may be a target for the terrorists. This will make tourists think twice about travelling to Barcelona because it may be a target for the Basque. Another problem that saw population of tourist’s fall going to Barcelona was the terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York and also in Madrid. This had a big impact on the whole of tourism due to tourists not wishing to travel.
A positive political factor that saw an increase in tourism for Barcelona was the 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona. People watching the Olympic Games saw how lovely Barcelona was and was eager to see it for themselves. Tourists wanted to see how well Barcelona was developed and view its amazing sites. This left a positive image of Barcelona and it started to appeal to all tourists.
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