The second working phase of the Plan commenced with the definition of the Strategic proposal, which includes the vision, the tourism model and the challenges facing tourism in Barcelona.

The Strategic proposal was presented on 26th January 2010, in the Saló de Cent Chamber at Barcelona City Hall, during a ceremony chaired by the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, and Miquel Valls, president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. Also taking part were Joan Gaspart, president of the Barcelona Executive Committee, Jordi Williams Carnes, third deputy mayor and councillor for the Tax Office and Economic Promotion, and Enric Truñó, the coordinator of the Plan. The ceremony was attended by some 300 people who took part in the reflection process gathered in the Strategic Plan.

The Strategic proposal document includes the following points:

> City model

> Vision TurismeBcn2020

> Desired tourism model

> Main challenges to be faced

 

City model

The city model presents here brings together the main aspects and characteristic traits that define the Barcelona of today and the future, namely, the type of city aspire to based on the current reality. The model addressed here integrates the traits defined by a broad number of actors from the city, including the municipal government, the institutions and representatives of the economic, social and cultural sectors.

The city model is understood as a desired model, which defines the main decisions about the city and, therefore, is a fundamental element in the conceptualisation process and the proposal for the desired tourism model.

A series of 20 substantial traits characterise the desired city model:

Barcelona wants to be a city which?

> is heterogeneous and diverse, and places the emphasis on people

> is tolerant and civic-minded

> is inclusive, and committed to social cohesion

> has an open attitude to welcoming visitors

> is committed to culture and sport

> has a broadly based and diverse social network that is committed to the city

> has municipal leadership and shared complicities

> is shaped by its neighbourhoods

> is dense and compact and eschews segregation and compartmentalisation

> is multifunctional, with a diversification of uses on a territorial level

> is metropolitan

> is the capital and engine of Catalonia

> is the "capital" of the Mediterranean

> is diversified, with a wide variety of economic sectors, with tourism activity among them

> is enterprising, creative, innovative, committed to training, attracting and securing talent

> and where the service and knowledge economy are a key component

> has a retail offering with its own marked identity and makes the city what it is

> is sustainable

> has a strong international profile, is well connected and open to the world while preserving its own identity

> is pioneering and with a desire to lead

 

Vision TurismeBCN2020

Although the present Plan has a Horizon for 2015, efforts have been made to project a vision over a ten-year period (2010-2020), in order to establish project that is broader in scope, leaving open the possibility of developing a new Horizon Plan for 2015-2020.

The proposed Vision seeks to visualise how we imagine Barcelona as a tourist destination in the future (2020).

"In 2020, Barcelona will still be recognised as the most vibrant and dynamic tourist destination in the Mediterranean and one of the world's leading destinations, and has established its position as a destination that has gone way beyond its administrative boundaries.

It is a city where tourism is fully integrated into its economic, retail, social and cultural dynamic and where the community recognises all kinds of visitors as other (temporary) citizens. The hospitable character of the locals makes it a friendly, different city that people are fond of.

A metropolitan city which is distinguished by its environmental sustainability, its excellent service, its continuous ability to surprise and its groundbreaking initiatives. Culture, creativity and knowledge are the engines of the city and its territory.

The real city, its identity and dynamism form the basis of its appeal and there is no room for "ghettos" or neighbourhoods that cater exclusively to tourists.

Tourist activity continues to contribute to Barcelona's success by fostering the improvement of the quality of life and social cohesion of its community, to the upkeep and creation of new amenities, and to the success of other economic sectors and the dissemination of Barcelona around the world."

 

Desired tourism model

The proposed tourism model expresses the type of tourism Barcelona aspires to, as well as the role this activity has to play in the city and throughout the territory, and the complicities that must go hand in hand with its development. The proposed tourism model justifies, responds to and "works" for the defined Vision.

The three core principles that define the tourism model:

> Coherence with the city model

The tourism model must be fully coherent with the city model. The relationship between tourism and the city must be based on reciprocal feedback and positive synergies, in a bidirectional sense.

In this regard, the management of urban tourism activities cannot be disassociated from the conceptual and operational framework of the management of the city.

The tourism model is part of the city model while helping to shape it, so that the coherence between both models is key, particularly because tourism leads to the development of the city and vice-versa.

> The balance or synergic relationship between visitors and residents

The relationship established between residents and visitors proposed by the Barcelona tourism model must be evenly balanced, insofar as there must be no competition or conflict between one or the other.

The coexistence between visitors and residents should be synergic as well as harmonious, based on cultural and economic exchanges and reciprocal contributions, understood as an enriching and mutually constructive experience.

> Economic, social, environmental and heritage sustainability

The principle of sustainability is based on the idea that the needs of future generations should not be compromised by satisfying present needs. Sustainability must be addressed globally with political, social and economic measures that call for the involvement of society as a whole.

The Plan therefore understand that the concept of sustainability includes a broad range of aspects, such as economic, social, environmental and heritage sustainability.

The main traits of the desired tourism model are as follows:

1 > An activity considered and managed as cross-cutting, multisectorial and with a wide territorial scope

2 > Based on active public management, interinstitutional cooperation and involvement and a public-private agreement

3 > Tourism is one of the main economic cornerstones of the city and fosters the distribution of revenue throughout the territory and among the community

4 > Tourist activity integrated in a natural way into the life of the community

5 > Tourist activity well integrated into the economic policy and the overall management of the city, where the tourism-business binomial is a priority

6 > Tourist activity involving the community

7 > The visitor, "temporary citizen", beyond the traditional concept of the tourist

8 > Diversified, deseasonalised and multi-motivational demand

9 > An inclusive rather than exclusive tourism, which is respectful and has rights and duties

10 > A tourist offering characterised by excellence

11 > Culture as one of the main linking elements of the offering

12 > A city for the community that visitors like

13 > Preserving and offering Barcelona's identifying symbols

14 > The city offers itself as a whole, with stories that can be shared between the community and visitors

15 > A city where the neighbourhood is a key element

16 > Preserving mixed uses of the territory

17 > Metropolitan city

18 > Barcelona, capital of Catalonia and the Mediterranean

 

The challenges facing tourism in Barcelona

Below the Plan sets out the ten major challenges which, taking into account the diagnosis expressed in chapter 3 of the "Strategic diagnosis" document, Barcelona has to face in order to move towards the established tourism model and make possible the proposed vision.

The challenges facing tourism in Barcelona are approached as the main levers that will bring about changes in the present type of tourism according to the desired tourism model. This means that each challenge has a marked ability to transform and change in the future.

The challenges are understood as the axes or vectors that will bring about an improvement in tourism in Barcelona. In order to achieve this, they must be taken on board by the broadest possible range of agents involved. The challenges will involve agreements, commitments, and shared actions.

> Territorial deconcentration of tourist activity.

> Governance of tourism within the framework of the city and its territorial environment.

> Generation of complicities with society and institutions.

> Competitive improvements to the destination and activities associated with tourism.

> Territorial deconcentration of tourist activity

1 > From Barcelona to destination Barcelona

2 > From the traditional icons to new icons

3 > From the icons to the neighbourhood

The territorial deconcentration of tourist activity involves the expansion of the destination to the metropolitan area, taking advantage of the possibilities of the new tourist space and its surroundings. At the same time, the territorial deconcentration of the activity involves highlighting new resources and urban spaces and giving greater protagonism to the neighbourhoods.

Deconcentration seeks to expand the framework for action, to foster a more equitable distribution of the economic and social effects caused by tourism, as well as a territorial reequilibrium, releasing the pressure on some zones of the city.

 

> Governance of tourism within the framework of the city and its territorial environment

4 > From tourist to visitor

5 > From tourism promotion to a governance of tourist activity

6 > From data to the generation of shared knowledge

 

The social and economic transformations that have occurred involve changes, adaptations and reformulations in the way cities are considered and governed. The dynamics inherent to the urbs, the growing sophistication and importance of tourism and the multiplicity of public and private actors involved, make them complex to govern.

The Plan therefore needs to move towards the development of new structures of management and coordination of tourist activity and their relationship with the city and different territories, bearing in mind the current and desired roles of the different institutions, governments and sectors involved.

The generation and dissemination of information must play an important role in order to help achieve the necessary complicities, take the best decisions and favour the credibility of the activity.

 

> Generation of complicities with society and institutions

7 > From indifference to the involvement of the community

8 > From competition to complicity with Catalonia

 

In order to ensure that tourism functions correctly and is integrated naturally into the city, the maximum number of complicities is essential, with particular importance being given to the Catalan community and institutions according to their historic importance and/or shortcomings.

The involvement of the community is a necessary condition for the economic and social sustainability of the activity, and complicities with Catalonia and its institutions are something that has to be improved for their mutual benefit.

Considering the Barcelona resident also means fostering hospitality, extending a warm welcome to visitors, coexistence and reciprocal exchanges.

To generate institutional complicities in all spheres also means reinforcing Barcelona's role as the Catalan capital and raising the profile of Catalonia.

 

> Competitive improvements to the destination and the activities associated with tourism

9 > From "accelerated" growth in recent years to the consolidation of sustainable growth "post-crisis"

10 > From the tourist city to leadership in tourism and the city

 

In the world today, strong competition between cities means that the competitiveness of the destination as a whole and the sectors in particular are key factors to success. There can be no long-term success without sustainability and there is no sustainability without the ability to be competitive.

Barcelona's tourism boom of recent years has proved the strength of the product, the solvency of business and the competitiveness of the destination until today. Nevertheless, the rarefication of the current economic and financial environment, as well as the strong competition between destinations, makes it necessary to consider a sustainable evolution over time, while consolidating the merits achieved.

Despite having the conditions and aptitudes to achieve a leading position in urban tourism over time, Barcelona must work towards the continuous improvements in the competitiveness of the destination and the different sectors involved.

 

Developing actions

Implementing the programmes

In order to provide an answer to the previous challenges, as part of this working phase, which will conclude in summer 2010, a series of lines of action will be established that will be grouped together as programmes and subprogrammes in order to facilitate its implementation and subsequent monitoring.