International tourism, especially from Europe, continued to be the main source market for tourists in Sitges this summer: 72.8% of hotel guests were foreigners, while 27.2% were domestic tourists, according to the Barcelona Provincial Council’s Tourism Data System platform. The data were provided by Sitgeshotelsthemselves, covering the period from June to September.

Tourists in Sitges are mainly from France, the United Kingdom and Germany, though there were also visitors from locations further afield, such as the United States and Canada, markets that have been growing since the pandemic. The data also show that the number of overnight stays has increased by 6,000 since 2023, going from 462,194 to 467,929, and the average visitor stay increased from 3.57 to 3.91 nights. There was also a 12.4% increase in average hotel prices per night, going from €168 last year to €188 this year. However, hotel occupancy fell from 75% to 72%.

“Beyond the absolute numbers, there’s been an important upwards trend in the data,reflecting not only a slight increase in average visitor stay, but also greater
internationalisation and a significant increase in spending per tourist,” says Xavier Ripoll, tourism councillor in the Sitges municipal government. “This means more income with fewer tourists, which contributes to the sustainability of our tourism model, reducing the strain on local residents and the area.”

An analysis form data on tourist website, www.sitgesanytime.com, shows that tourists search for practical information about the destination before arriving in Sitges. The top searchers are domestic tourists, followed by those from France and the United Kingdom. These visitors’ main interests are the schedule and calendar of events, as well as trip planning resources. Visitors are also interested in markets and the city’s festa major, or main annual festival. Once in the city, 32% of domestic tourists visit tourism offices for information on monuments, heritage sites, transport, events, museums and beaches, as do 16% of French visitors and 13% of British visitors.