Business tourism: this is how its recovery is progressing in Spain

Abigail Brewer 1 year ago 2 min read

Corporate and business tourism grew by 38% in the first quarter of 2023, leaving behind the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and confirming the sector’s long-awaited recovery. This is the main conclusion of an analysis by payment solutions company UniversalPayThey were responsible for studying transactions made with corporate cards processed by the company’s payment from 2029 to the first quarter of 2023.

Analyzing the data, the analysis developed by UniversalPay indicates that COVID-19 and the restrictions put in place to mitigate it have reduced corporate and business tourism almost to its disappearance. Evidence of this is the video conferencing, digital and hybrid events that have become another part of what was then known as the ‘new normal’.. However, face-to-face events and meetings have gradually recovered. In 2022, surgeries were 6% higher than those recorded in 2019, the last full year without coronavirus. And at the end of last March, this percentage was 38% higher than the data for the same period last year.

With this information on the table, UniversalPay confirms the sector’s complete recovery. In fact, they assert that the growth recorded between the results of the first quarter of 2021 and 2023 amounted to 171%, “and everything indicates that it will continue to increase in the coming months.” In the same vein, Turespaña’s latest data, provided by the organization, confirms the national leadership as a destination for this type of event, overtaking other countries such as France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.. In addition, as indicated by the information contained in the official calendar of international trade fairs for 2023, Spain has programs for a total of 105 international fairs. In 2019, 94 were booked, further data confirming the recovery of the sector.

The economic impact of business tourism

Data from the Convention Bureau of Spain shows that a quarter of the world’s tourists do so for business, be it meetings, conferences or conferences. This amount represents 280 million people, which means that there is a significant economic impact for each of the places where these events take place.. Thus, business tourism in Spain brings in 7,000 million euros annually. In this scenario, the analysis also emphasizes the importance of analyzing the profile of this type of tourist, since their purchasing power and average spending tend to be higher than those of tourists who travel for leisure. According to the data provided by Ostelea, the former spend about 206 euros per day while the latter spend about 146 euros per day.

For their part, Madrid and Barcelona continue to lead the business meetings. Both cities collect close to 50% of professional meetings.