The Catalan Federation of Associations of Catering and Music Activities, Fecasarma, a few days before the start of the Mobile World Congress, said that the event will leave 96 million euros to the leisure of Barcelona.
The technology event is expected to attract more than 80,000 attendees.
As a result, restaurateurs, hoteliers and companies in the leisure sector are in final preparations to welcome one of the most active and promising weeks of the year.
While the projected value is estimated to be 18% lower than that achieved in 2019 (pre-pandemic), it is a good time to generate cash and boost back the leisure sector that was hit so hard by the confinement.
96 million euros will be generated by the MWC 2023 edition for the leisure industry in Barcelona
While the event will leave 18% less revenue compared to 2019, it is a good space to recover pre-pandemic gains.
And it is feasible, as it is estimated that each MWC attendee may be spending around 300 euros per day.
These expenses include catering and nightlife.
Although the participants have a varied profile, half of them are people in senior or mid-level positions in large technology companies.
In this regard, leisure entrepreneurs indicated that the Mobile World Congress 2023 Barcelona, will create less employment this year than in 2019.
For that year, 5,000 temporary jobs were created, a figure that was lower than in previous years. Employers claim that this may be partly due to the elimination of temporary work and service contracts as a result of the last labor reform.
In this regard, Joaquim Boadas, secretary general of Fecasarm, regretted that the new legislation only allows companies to hire on a temporary basis to cover aspects of production or replacement of employees. Thus, they do not see the feasibility of signing permanent contracts to work for only a few days.
However, leisure entrepreneurs are hopeful that the number of MWC attendees will increase this year and that by the 2024 edition, they will be able to reach and even surpass the 2019 figures.
The increase in the demand for leisure activities will be helped by the varied gastronomic offer in the Catalan capital, as well as the nightlife.
Renfe increases availability of seats for MWC
To meet the demand for transportation for congress attendees, Renfe has once again signed an agreement with GSMA, the event organizers, to provide around 9,000 additional seats on its trains covering the Madrid-Barcelona route.
Also, Renfe will be the official train of the fair and will offer a 15% discount on the price of long distance or Ave tickets for registered attendees at the event.
