Tourism and the Barcelona Brand

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Tourism and the Barcelona BrandPatricia OHurley

01/04/14

Past & Present in Barcelona Spring 2014

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INDEXI. Putting Barcelona on the Map.1II. Brand Image: Barcelona.2III. The Anti-Touristic Brand...3IV. Sustainable Tourism.4V. Appendix..7VI. Bibliography10

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Over the course of Barcelonas history, there have been a number of events

that have helped to shape the citys brand image in the minds of tourists. The

influence of history, tradition, culture, and innovation have improved the Barcelona

brand and have made it more than just a citybut an idea that has produced

endless possibilities for future enhancement.

Putting Barcelona on the Map

There are three major events that all took place within one hundred years

which all served to put Barcelona on the global map and gain international

attention. The first in 1888, known as the Barcelona Universal Exposition (See

Appendix A), was Spains first participation in the trending World Fairs. This fair

mostly attracted other visitors from elsewhere in Spain to Barcelona and did not

serve to gain much attention internationally.

But Barcelona learned from their mistakes the first time around and in 1929,

after much more planning and development, the second world fair launched as the

International Exposition of 1929, attracting visitors from twenty different countries,

mostly European. This particular exhibition had a profound urban impact on the city

in terms of further development, including the construction of the whole Montjuc

area and the Magic Fountains of Plaa Espanya (Appendix B), as well as the

urbanization and establishment of Plaa Catalunya as the city center. During this

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time, communication networks had to be expanded and improved, which created

jobs and an increased immigration to Barcelona from all over Spain.

The greatest year for Barcelona in terms of gaining global recognition was

1992, when the city was selected to host the Olympic Games. Barcelona was selected

over other more well known cities at the time: Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham,

Brisbane, and Paris. The event brought together one hundred and sixty nine nations

to compete in the Games, which helped to make Barcelona one of the most visited

cities in Europe, next to Paris, London, and Rome. During the preparation for 1992

Olympic Games, the construction of the Olympic Village in Poblenou was completed

and opened the city to the sea even further than Barceloneta (Appendix C). The

investments and constructions of infrastructure throughout the city made for the

Games improved living standards and boosted tourism. In addition to the Poblenou

district construction near the beach, Barcelonas airport was also expanded and its

port began accepting cruise ships, a decision which has led to Barcelona becoming

the fourth busiest cruise ship port in the world. From 1993 to 2013, the annual

visitor count has increased from 2.5 million to 7.6 million.

Brand Image: Barcelona

Thanks to these three events, Barcelona was catapulted into the world of

tourism and since then, has become a touristic brand. When someone is asked to

imagine Barcelona and describe what they are seeing, chances are the image

popping into their heads are picturesque views from Parc Gell (Appendix D), the

vast beach dotted with tourists, the port full of ships big and small, the breathtaking

yet still incomplete construction of Gaudis Sagrada Familia, Messi scoring a goal at

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Camp Nou, shopping down Passeig de Gracia (Appendix E), or getting lost on the

many winding alleys in Ciutat Vella.

These places have become assets to the city, helping Barcelona shape its

brand image in the minds of tourists, cashing in on FC Barcelona and Gauds works,

influencing and building up brand awareness on a global scale. When the

Ajuntament surveyed one hundred influential residents of Barcelona on words they

think best define the Barcelona Brand, some of the following were given: creative,

diverse, egalitarian, Mediterranean, organic among others.

The Anti-Touristic Brand

The positive aspects of Barcelona being a touristic brand are evident through

the economic benefits brought to the city, which should be helping to preserve the

city and help it expand and adapt to the influx of tourists. The monetary benefit to

the economy is estimated to be around twenty-two million euros per day,

generating over one hundred thousand jobs.

However, the Generalitat de Catalunya and many residents of Barcelona see

the growing tourism as an invasion and are concerned that they will lose the city

they know and love to nothing more than tourist traps. But what it is hard for the

government to communicate to its citizens is that without tourism, Barcelona would

not be the successful, thriving city it is today because no one would be aware of all

the opportunities it had to offer it they didnt visit.

Residents also have a problem with the growing tourism since in some cases,

it leads to them being displaced from their homes. Since some businessmen in

highly touristic areas take advantage of the higher purchasing powers of visitors

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and boost their prices, they have created an artificial inflation affecting other

businesses throughout the city. This goes for housing as well when considering

residential tourism. (Gentrification) The negative viewpoint of the resident to

tourism (anti-tourist sentiments, Appendix F) is something working against the city

and something that the government should draw its attention to before furthering

efforts to continue expanding tourism. Permanent residents attitudes towards

temporary citizens or visitors have to be fundamentally changed and in order for

this to happen, the government needs to explain its efforts in full and how they will

benefit the residents first and foremost.

There is also a lot of controversy currently over whom exactly the economic

benefits with the influx of tourism are benefiting specifically. Everything goes to the

central Spanish treasury and then gets shared proportionally, leaving minimal direct

benefits for Barcelona, the creator of most of the wealth in the first place for the

country. But the problem here is that Barcelona needs substantially more in order to

keep up with touristic activities, in terms of dealing with higher levels of waste

disposal as well as security.

Sustainable Tourism

Improving Barcelona as a brand name product requires a lot of work, as well

as the cooperation and participation of the residents of Barcelona, since a city is

nothing without its people. Tourism is not sustainable in a hostile environment or in

a place that adapts too quickly to the needs of the tourists, completely throwing its

culture and traditions and values out the window in order to make more money.

Barcelona needs to stay true to and maintain interest in its traditional, well-known

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attractions while simultaneously creating new sites and points of interest that show

the development of the city, giving the Barcelona an even more vibrant and dynamic

brand. Spreading the interest to Barcelonas less-visited neighborhoods and

focusing on development in these areas would help dilute the tourism.

For example, the neighborhood of Poble Sec, located close to the famous Las

Ramblas, is basically empty when it comes to tourists. Locals love the area for tapas

bars and the night scene it offers (Appendix G). This is an area basically untouched

by tourists and offers a good opportunity for someone in the private sector to look

into promoting the area and drawing the attention outside the main area of the city.

In Poblenou, the great 22@ district plan to develop more urban space for technology

and innovation as well as residential and leisure areas is still in the process of being

constructed (Appendix H). According to the Ajuntament de Barcelona, over seven

thousand shops and businesses are located in the 22@ district, a figure that is sure

to start drawing people to other parts of the city, if they are properly promoted and

advertised to tourists.

The current economic crisis in Barcelona is accompanied by a high level of

unemployment as well as lower levels of investment forecasted and delays in

carrying out planning for new infrastructures. This presents quite a challenge to a

possible solution to the growing tourism difficulties for the city in terms of

expanding the city and introducing new touristic elements in other underdeveloped

neighborhoods of the city, most notably the 22@ district around Glries. The tight

budget of the government just cannot accommodate the demands of the growing

city in regards to expanding touristic sites as well as furthering innovation in

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Barcelona. The first problem that needs to be dealt with therefore, would be the

system that is in place today with regards to financing from the central Spanish

treasury, seriously considering the implementation of a tourist tax in addition to

benefit Barcelona and its efforts to expand as well as diversify its economic

endeavors.

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Bibliography1. Cristina Slattery, Branding Barcelona, Barcelona Metropolitan, April 28, 2010,

http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/the-archive/branding-barcelona/

2. Marc Castellet Puig, The Impact of Tourism on Society Generalitat de Catalunya,

Ministry for Business and Labour

http://www20.gencat.cat/portal/site/empresaiocupacio/menuitem.32aac87fcae8e

050a6740d63b0c0e1a0/?vgnextoid=774600af95186310VgnVCM1000008d0c1e0a

RCRD&&newLang=en_GB

3. Ian Mount, Growing pains force a rethink in tourism strategy to protect locals

Financial Times, March 30, 2014http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/31d0d346-

b021-11e3-b0d0-00144feab7de.html#axzz2xYFEbqK7

4. Ajuntament de Barcelona

http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/887/90/lang,en/5. Julius Purcell, Creativity becomes a driving force in city branding Financial

Times, March 30, 2014http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/313c429e-b021-11e3-

b0d0-00144feab7de.html#axzz2xYFEbqK7