The Project .................................................................................................................................... 3

About the data analyzed ............................................................................................................... 3

Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 3

Key issues ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Plaça Catalunya is the centre of Barcelona, for real ................................................................. 5

Japanese, they love Barça ......................................................................................................... 5

If it’s Thursday you’d better not go to Park Güell ..................................................................... 5

Nightlife is the last name of the Port Olímpic ........................................................................... 5

Hazy fog means amazing pics of the waterfront ....................................................................... 6

When it gets cold let’s take a walk to Montjuïc ........................................................................ 6

Plaça Catalunya is the centre of Barcelona, for real ..................................................................... 7

Japanese, they love Barça ............................................................................................................. 9

If it’s Thursday you’d better not go to Park Güell ....................................................................... 10

Nightlife is the last name of the Port Olímpic ............................................................................. 11

Hazy fog means amazing pics of the waterfront ......................................................................... 13

When it gets cold let’s take a walk to Montjuïc .......................................................................... 13

Data 1.0 on Barcelona’s tourism ................................................................................................. 15

Data 1.0 vs Data 2.0 .................................................................................................................... 16

In our cities, especially in touristic cities such as Barcelona, we constantly see tourists with their

digital cameras, taking photos everywhere. We all know where they usually concentrate,

Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Camp Nou or just in Las Ramblas. But do we know if they change

their routes and plans on a rainy day, on Wednesdays or during sunny spring afternoons? We

would like to give answers to this type of questions through the analysis of pics taken by tourists

in Barcelona and uploaded to Flickr accounts. We believe that identifying certain behavior

patterns might be interesting to evaluate the location of new businesses, to better target tourism

services or just to improve the mobility and signalization of touristic spots. But we are also

interested in the impact of tourism on the city, not just its economy but on its public spaces, on

the quality of life of their neighborhoods and also its neighbors.

Universe: tourists in Barcelona (7,133,524 in 2010 according to Turisme de Barcelona).

Sample: 42,600 pics uploaded to 5,483 Flickr accounts (tourists) between March 1st

2010 and March 1st 2011.

Margin of error (with p=q=50% and a confidence interval of 95%): 1.3%

Data sources: Flickr, Weather Underground

NOTE: this sample is based on single unique users, whilst the universe shows total number of

tourists, but we have to take into account that for each pic uploaded there is usually more than

one tourist behind.

This study was based on the Flickr API, which allowed us to obtained more than 150,000

photos geolocated in Barcelona between March 1st 2010 and March 1st 2011. We have

discarded those whose owner’s origin is unknown (not indicated in his/her Flickr profile). After

that refining process we kept a little bit more than 80,000 photos. The following stage was to

exclude all those profiles located in Catalonia, i.e. beyond 200km from Barcelona, as for the

purpose of this project we decided not to consider them as tourists but occasional or even

regular visitors. Finally, we have 42,000 photos taken by tourists in Barcelona, now the

challenge is to analyze all of them and identify their behavior patterns.

In order to analyze where tourists mostly concentrate, we drew a total of 30 polygons, those

areas considered as the top tourist attractions in Barcelona. We include from Pl. Catalunya to

Sagrada Família or Park Güell, but others less known as Fòrum or even Pl. Kennedy, where

funicular to Tibidabo is taken.

Given the specific nature of the sample, it is important to highlight that conclusions that can be

drawn are conditional on the usual profile of a consumer who makes intense use of cloud

services and web 2.0, ie there is a profile of tourists visiting Barcelona that cannot be

represented in this analysis. Therefore, this is a study that focuses exclusively on Internet

heavy-users tourists, although it has to be said, they are becoming more numerous and

therefore it is gradually a more relevant sample for the whole tourism industry in Barcelona.

To compare the bias of this study regarding the reality of behavior patterns of tourists in

Barcelona, it is interesting to analyze some data 1.0, comparing it with the data 2.0 that we have

collected.

Plaça Catalunya is the favorite spot for Barcelona’s tourists, as more than 14% of the

total pics where taken.

Santa Maria del Mar and the Born area occupies second place, whilst the Sagrada

Família has to conform to fourth place.

Tourism in Barcelona is highly concentrated in the district of Ciutat Vella, as 6 of the 10

most photographed spots are located there.

Half of the tourist attractions account for 85% of the total pics taken in Barcelona.

Japanese have Camp Nou as their number one tourist spot, right above Sagrada

Família.

Both French and Spaniards have Macba as their favorite place for pics.

Germans tend to concentrate around the Montjuïc area, especially the Olympic Ring

and the Font Màgica.

British are not really explorers, they have Pl. Catalunya, Sagrada Família, the Cathedral

and the Park Güell as their top attractions.

Top places for Americans are Santa Maria del Mar – Born, Boqueria and Casa Batlló.

We can observe interesting habits among tourists, not just differentiating from

weekdays and weekends, but also between weekdays.

In the case of Camp Nou, Wednesday is the day of the week with a higher number of

photos taken.

Sagrada Família climbs up to 2nd position of the ranking on Wednesdays, being 14th

on Mondays.

The number of average photos taken at Park Güell decreases more than 75%

compared with Wednesdays and 80% with Fridays.

Tourists have it clear: when it gets dark the Port Olímpic is the place to have fun.

Hours of most activity for tourists are those between 10am to 7pm. In these hours,

tourists tend to move around most visited spots.

Sagrada Família receives largest number of visitors from 10am to 1pm; decreasing

significantly as the afternoon and evening arrive.

1pm and 4pm are the hours with a higher number of pics taken.

On rainy days tourists seem to look for shelter, so they prefer to move around famous

buildings, churches or museums.

The Rambla’s area close to Liceu, reaches 2nd position from regular 11th, on rainy

days.

In days of hazy fog in Barcelona, the area of Port Olímpic – Torres Mapfre is the most

photographed spot, more than three times those taken in Plaça Catalunya.

Favorite spots do not understand of cold or heat, as they remain as top visited places.

The Montjuïc area is a especially preferred spot for tourists when it gets cold.

With average temperatures between 21 to 25 degrees, tourists tend to increase their

concentration on the Ramblas area.

When temperature goes below 10 degrees, most interesting trend affects the Cathedral,

as it climbs from general 13th position to 2nd

.

When analyzing where tourists take their photos in Barcelona, there is not a lot of margin to

surprise, at least among first places of the ranking. Plaça Catalunya is the favorite spot for

Barcelona’s tourists, as more than 14% of the total pics where taken there. For Barcelonans,

Plaça Catalunya is the emblematic center of the city, and tourists do not differ.

However, among the rest of the Top 30 tourist attractions, we find that Santa Maria del Mar and

the surrounding Born area occupies second place, whilst the major symbol of the city, the

Sagrada Família has to conform to fourth place, just behind the Boqueria’s Market.

From this analysis it is clearly observed how tourism in Barcelona is highly concentrated in the

district of Ciutat Vella, as 6 of the 10 most photographed spots are located there. Eixample is

just represented with Casa Batlló (5th position) and partly (jointly with Sants-Montjuïc) with the

Font Màgica – MNAC area (9th position).

Success of FC Barcelona seems to have a significant impact over the city’s tourists, as its

stadium the Camp Nou, is ranked on the 15th position, even above of some really popular

places such as La Pedrera (20th), Plaça Sant Jaume (21st) or Tibidabo (22nd).

In general terms, we can see how half of the tourist attractions account for 85% of the total pics

taken in Barcelona during the analyzed period. Therefore, we just confirm that the city has

tourism model featured by a high space occupation, which might have a negative impact both

over tourists and locals.

Rank Top tourist attractions % of pics

over total

1 Plaça Catalunya 14,1%

2 Santa Maria del Mar - Born 9,1%

3 Rambla Boqueria 7,8%

4 Sagrada Família 7,6%

5 Casa Batlló 6,6%

6 Park Güell 6,1%

7 Port Vell - Aquàrium 4,9%

8 Macba 4,9%

9 Font Màgica - MNAC 4,3%

10 Rambla Colom 3,7%

11 Rambla Liceu 3,7%

12 Anella Olímpica 3,6%

13 Catedral 3,2%

14 Parc de la Ciutadella 2,9%

15 Camp Nou 2,7%

Rank Top tourist attractions % of pics

over total

16 Port Olímpic - Torres Mapfre 2,6%

17 Plaça Espanya 1,9%

18 Castell de Montjuïc 1,4%

19 Rambla Canaletes 1,4%

20 La Pedrera 1,3%

21 Plaça Sant Jaume 1,2%

22 Tibidabo 1,1%

23 Arc de Triomf 0,9%

24 Plaça Reial 0,7%

25 Plaça Universitat 0,6%

26 Torre Agbar 0,5%

27 Hotel W Barcelona 0,4%

28 Hospital de Sant Pau 0,3%

29 Plaça Kennedy 0,3%

30 Fòrum 0,2%

Camp Nou

Tibidabo

Pl. Kennedy

Park Güell Hospital de Sant Pau

Sagrada Família

Torre Agbar

Fòrum

Port Olímpic – Torres Mapfre

La Pedrera

Casa Batlló

Pl. Espanya

Anella Olímpica Castell de Montjuïc

Font Màgica - MNAC Hotel W Barcelona

Pl. Universitat

Macba

Pl. Catalunya

Arc de Triomf

Parc de la Ciutadella

Santa Maria del Mar - Born

Catedral

Pl. Sant Jaume

Port Vell – Aquàrium

Rambla Colom

Rambla Liceu

Pl. Reial

Rambla Boqueria

Rambla Canaletes

One of the most interesting variables to analyze in this project of pics taken by tourists in

Barcelona is to take an in-depth look to visitors by country of origin. Through this approach, we

have been able to detect actual differences on behavior patterns depending on the nationality of

the tourist. And the most shocking conclusion is that Japanese have Camp Nou as their number

one spot, neither the Sagrada Família nor the Park Güell or Casa Batlló achieved to overcome

Barça’s home as the place where a larger number of photos was taken.

But surprises are mixed with some topics that are confirmed. For instance, French are usually

perceived as culture and art lovers, and it seems to be that way, as their number one tourist

attraction is Macba (the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona). That is also the favorite

spot for Spaniards. Germans tend to concentrate around the Montjuïc area, especially the

Olympic Ring and the Font Màgica – MNAC. Canadians show another unexpected pattern, as

they have as second favorite spot the Parc de la Ciutadella (14th position in the general

ranking).

British are probably not really exploring lovers, as they have Pl. Catalunya, Sagrada Família,

the Cathedral and the Park Güell as their top attractions. In the case of Americans, it is

confirmed again that they like the old part of the city, its antique buildings and churches. Their

top places are Santa Maria del Mar – Born, Boqueria and Casa Batlló.

Despite for the most visited spots, there is no pattern on affluence depending on the day of the

week, for other attractions, we can observe interesting habits among tourists, not just

differentiating from weekdays and weekends, but also between weekdays.

If we look at the behavior of tourists spots depending on the day of the week, it is interesting to

highlight how the Anella Olímpica (Olympic Ring) is mostly during the weekend, including

Monday and Friday in a minor rate, but from Tuesday to Thursday, pics taken reduce

significantly. Something similar happens to another sports attraction, the Camp Nou. In this

case, Wednesday is the day of the week with a higher number of photos taken (usual day of

Champions League match), however, tourists do not seem to visit the stadium on match day, as

there is no significant variation on Saturdays or Sundays. This is mostly explained because

Camp Nou’s Tour closes earlier on match day.

Macba is another interesting case, as largest number of visits seems to concentrate on

Thursdays and Fridays. Port Olímpic – Torres Mapfre area is another case of day specialization,

as visits increase on Mondays, reaching 3rd

place in the Top 30 ranking, being the only day that

hits the Top 10 (except for Thursdays when occupies 10th).

We can’t forget Sagrada Família’s pattern. This spot climbs up to 2nd

position of the ranking on

Wednesdays, being 14th on Mondays, 6

th on Tuesdays and Thursdays, third on Fridays and

Sundays and 4th on Saturdays.

Another classic of Barcelona’s tourist routes is the Park Güell. This attraction follows a quite

steady pattern except for Thursdays, when the number of average photos taken decreases

more than 75% compared with Wednesdays and 80% with Fridays.

Barcelona is well-known as a tourist destination for going out and having fun enjoying its wide

nightlife offer. Although the city offers a wide range of bars and discos at the city center

(especially at Raval, Gòtic and Born areas), tourists have it clear: when it gets dark you must go

to Port Olímpic to have fun). Between 12am and 4am, this area reaches 2nd

place of the

ranking, when in the general count it occupies 16th position. During this hour range, it is also

remarkable activity around the Boqueria area of Las Ramblas and Plaça Sant Jaume.

Hours of most activity for tourists are those between 10am to 7pm. In these hours, tourists tend

to move around most visited spots, without a significant change on patterns. However, if we

analyze behavior for each spot, we can see some interesting things. For example, Sagrada

Família receives largest number of visitors from 10am to 1pm; decreasing significantly as the

afternoon and evening arrive. Same pattern is observed with other ticket attractions such as

Casa Batlló or Aquàrium.

Tourists tend to concentrate at Camp Nou between 1pm and 4pm, and also between 7pm and

10pm, in this last case due to matches. The Font Màgica at Montjuïc also has 7pm to 10pm as

a rush hour; in this case it is likely to be explained by the fountain lights show.

If you want to avoid tourists’ concentrations, then you’d better not go to any of the top

attractions between 1pm and 4pm, as these are the hours with a higher number of pics taken.

But there is another option to walk around the city in a more relaxed way: to do it between 4am

and 7am.

Tourists come to visit and see Barcelona’s favorite places and they do so no matter what the

weather is, however, on rainy days they seem to look for shelter, so they prefer to move around

famous buildings, churches or museums. On a rainy day, Casa Batlló climbs to the 3rd

place of

the Top 30 ranking, coming from 5th in the general ranking.

Something more significant happens to the Rambla’s area close to Liceu, reaching 2nd

position

from regular 11th. Barcelona’s Cathedral also climbs from 13

th to 9

th on rainy days. However,

Plaça Catalunya remains as number 1 spot, despite decreasing the percentage that represents

from the total.

In any case, the most surprising pattern is not found when rain appears, but when hazy fog

does. In these rare days in Barcelona, tourists seem to be attracted by the magic of the

combination of fog and the waterfront, as the area of Port Olímpic – Torres Mapfre is, with a

large difference, the most photographed spot, more than three times those taken in Plaça

Catalunya.

When taking a look at the average temperature analysis, as usual, favorite spots do not

understand of cold or heat, as they remain as top visited places. However, some of the less

common attractions are somehow impacted by the temperature of the city.

The Anella Olímpica (Olympic Ring) is one of the most interesting cases of temperature

conditioned behavior, as it grows significantly when temperature moves from 11 to 15 degrees.

This spot reaches 5th position in the Top 30 ranking, when in the general analysis ranks 12

th.

The Font Màgica – MNAC area, Castell de Montjuïc and Plaça Espanya, despite at a lower

level, experience the same growth when this temperature is given. So, it seems that the

Montjuïc area is a especially preferred spot for tourists when it gets cold.

When springtime comes, with average temperatures between 21 to 25 degrees, tourists tend to

increase their concentration on the Ramblas area. But when the heat rises up, apart from the

beaches (not included in this analysis) they are seen at Port Vell – Aquàrium area.

On its part, the Sagrada Família follows a mid to low temperature pattern. Largest number of

photos was taken when temperature was between 16 and 20 degrees, but also shows

concentration when temperature is even colder, between 11 and 15 degrees.

Finally, those rare days when temperature goes below 10 degrees, most interesting trend

affects the Cathedral, as it climbs from general 13th position to 2nd, just behind Pl. Catalunya.

Visitors to places of interest in Barcelona (Source: Turisme de Barcelona)

Rank

2010

1 Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família 2.317.349

2 CosmoCaixa Barcelona 2.128.453

3 L’Aquàrium de Barcelona 1.660.261

4 CaixaFòrum Barcelona 1.552.110

5 Castell de Montjuïc 1.371.355

6 Museu Picasso 1.369.187

7 Museu F.C. Barcelona President Nuñez 1.311.638

8 Telefèric de Montjuïc 1.182.528

9 Fundació Joan Miró 1.102.558

10 Parc Zoològic de Barcelona 1.054.885

11 La Pedrera de Catalunya Caixa 1.022.887

12 Poble Espanyol de Barcelona 936.455

13 Museu Nacional d’Art Catalunya (MNAC) 897.179

14 Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) 746.592

15 Casa Batlló 673.786

16 Museu d’Història de Barcelona. MUHBA 653.707

17 Palau Robert 506.357

18 Museu Marítim de Barcelona. MMB 432.002

19 Casa-Museu Gaudí (Park Güell) 412.054

20 Parc d’Atraccions Tibidabo 402.009

21 Fundació Fran Daurel 392.193

22 Centre de Cultura Comtemporània de Barcelona (CCCB)

359.964

23 Funicular del Tibidabo 352.763

24 Tramvia Blau 310.721

25 Temple d’August. MUHBA 307.026

26 Museu d’Història de Catalunya 306.256

27 Museu Egipci de Barcelona 305.128

28 Arts Santa Mònica 264.572

29 Museu de Cera de Barcelona 198.972

30 Disseny HUB Barcelona. DHUB 198.778

In bold those included in our Top 30 tourist attractions

Credit card spending by countries (Source: Barcelona Turisme)

Opinion about different aspects of Barcelona (on a scale 1 to 10) (Source: Barcelona Turisme)

Percentage of tourists by country of origin (Source: Barcelona City Council, Flickr)