According to Spanish business paper Expansion the hotels in Barcelona have just had one of their best weekends of the year. And, although the publication says that 15,000 less tickets were sold for the Barcelona Grand Prix this year than last, the hotels in Barcelona were almost all full. In addition many hotel owners in Barcelona said they were happy becasue the guests who come for the Barcelona Grand Prix normally have more purchasing power than people who come during the rest of the year. This is confirmed by the fact that tickets for the Barcelona Grand Prix vary from 130€ to 530€. A package that includes three-day passes for the paddock area can be as high as 3,000€.

Also, unlike during many other events hosted in Barcelona, like the Mobile World Congress, the organisers did not agree an upper price limit on rooms with the hotels in Barcelona. The hotels in the city, that were recently forced to lower their prices due to the impact of the economic crisis, received welcome compensation during the Grand Prix weekend.

According to information gathered by Expansion, hotels in Barcelona increased their rates by around 75% compared to a normal weekend. Tourists could either reserve their room directly or through the official Formula 1 website. In either case the prices were very similar. Prices for next weekend, in contrast, will be between 40% and 170% lower even though Barcelona is host to a car show, the Salon del Automóvil.

Nevertheless, the economic crisis and Fernando Alonso’s poor showing this season had an impact on ticket sales for the Barcelona Grand Prix. The director of the Montmeló circuit, Ramón Praderas, explained that the buying behaviour of the fans had changed and they were planning less and making reservations at the last minute. This trend has been reflected elsewhere in the tourist sector and, according to Expansion, is due to the uncertain economic outlook.