Political crisis scare tourists from Barcelona

A political crisis in Spain is keeping tourists away from Barcelona, one of the world’s premier tourist destination.
According to CNNMoney, International flight bookings to Catalonia have dropped by 17 per cent compared to last year when the restive region’s independence referendum started.
The Chief Executive Officer, ForwardKeys travels, Mr. Olivier Jager, said, “Domestic political unrest always damage inbound tourism and that is what we are seeing now. The contested referendum has raised major questions about Catalonia’s future inside Spain. The region’s separatist government has taken steps toward declaring independence, and Madrid has responded by threatening a crackdown as street protests have become a regular occurrence in the regional capital of Barcelona.”
Barcelona is the 12th most popular city in the world for tourism, according to Mastercard.
Last year, the city welcomed 8.4 million international visitors, who spent roughly $9 billion. Over 400,000 people are employed in Catalonia’s tourism industry.
The Spanish economy has been in recovery mode over the past few years, with the growing tourism sector contributing more than 14 per cent of the nation’s GDP in 2016.
Spain’s economy grew by 3.2 per cent in each of the past two years, according to data from the European Union. It’s expected to expand by 2.8 per cent this year.