Corporate travel in Spain is experiencing a significant recovery, which is why MICE tourism has increased its profit by 35% in the first quarter of the year compared to 2019, according to a study carried out by UniversalPay, which has analyzed transactions made with corporate cards.
In 2022, according to the study, the annual operations carried out were already 6% above the data registered in 2019, and growth in the first quarter of this year is 38% higher than in the same quarter of the last year and 35% higher than in 2019.
In addition, according to the latest data released by Turespaña, Spain is the leading MICE tourism destination, followed by France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, not only for national events but also international ones.
In 2023, the recovery of MICE tourism in Spain is confirmed. The growth between the results of the first quarter of 2021 and 2023 represents 171%, and everything indicates that the positive development will continue to increase in the coming months.
In Spain, during 2023, there are planned 105 international fairs. In 2019, there were 94 events.
Great economic impact
Interestingly, Madrid and Barcelona host almost 50% of professional meetings in the country. The Catalan capital is the fourth city in the world that organizes the most congresses (156), according to the International Congresses and Conventions Association (ICCA) statistics.
In addition, the business tourist has greater purchasing power, and the average expenditure is usually higher than that of the leisure traveler. Specifically, a business traveler spends around 206 euros a day in Spain, while a leisure visitor spends an average of 146 euros daily.