{"id":57239,"date":"2015-08-17T15:32:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T13:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=57239"},"modified":"2019-06-18T09:57:43","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T07:57:43","slug":"how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"How to fix travel: Get an authentic experience in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It all started with the 1992 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1992_Summer_Olympics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Olympic Games<\/a><\/strong>, hosted in <strong>Barcelona<\/strong>. This is when Barcelona\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.barcelonaturisme.com\/wv3\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">tourism<\/a> industry really kicked into action. It\u2019s hard to believe there was a time before this when Barcelona wasn\u2019t on the mainstream tourist map. Since then, and especially since the advent and increasing number of low-cost airline flying in and out of the city, the number of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/tourist-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tourists<\/a><\/strong> in Barcelona has been increasing at a startking rate and in the last few years it has started to feel more than just a tad overcrowded, especially in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/top-4-free-things-to-do-in-barcelona-in-summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">summer<\/a><\/strong>. In the decade after the 1992 Olympic Games, tourism to Barcelona more than doubled. This is undoubtedly due not only to effective marketing, but the fact that Barcelona really does have a whole lot to offer beyond its blue skies and beaches. Barcelona is a city <strong>historically proud<\/strong>, and rightly so, of its culture, creativity and diversity, all of which it oozes. Sadly, the city&#8217;s <strong>inherent charm<\/strong> and<strong> uniqueness<\/strong> feels to be at threat of being drowned out by the vast swathes of tourists piling out of low cost airline carriers and on to its streets. This is especially notable during the summer months. One disconcerting consequence of this is it drives the locals out of the city centre (indeed most tend to flee altogether during July and August), and with that goes a large part of what makes it so authentic, making all the generic features of any mass market tourist city much more prominent; the hop-on hop-off tour buses, crammed beaches, epic queues to get into tourist attractions, packed restaurants, and so on.<\/p>\n<link rel='stylesheet' id='jquery-style-css' href='https:\/\/scd01.bcnshop.com\/en\/widgets\/generate-css\/2631\/14329.css' type='text\/css' \/>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/scd01.bcnshop.com\/en\/widgets\/generate-js\/2631\/14329.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/#Comfort_and_convenience\" title=\"Comfort and convenience\">Comfort and convenience<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/#How_to_solve_the_problem\" title=\"How to solve the problem\">How to solve the problem<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/#How_can_we_grow_tourism_and_limit_it_at_the_same_time\" title=\"How can we grow tourism and limit it at the same time?\">How can we grow tourism and limit it at the same time?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/#Managing_capacity\" title=\"Managing capacity\">Managing capacity<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/how-to-fix-travel-get-an-authentic-experience-in-barcelona\/#So_what_can_travellers_do_to_find_authenticity\" title=\"So what can travellers do to find authenticity?\">So what can travellers do to find authenticity?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Comfort_and_convenience\"><\/span><strong>Comfort and convenience<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s not just the influx of enormous numbers of tourists that can threaten a city\u2019s authenticity, its also the infiltration of big multinational chains. Just walking down <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/las-ramblas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Rambla<\/a><\/strong>, you will pass McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and Starbucks. Many tourists, regressing into comfort-zone mode or whatever it is, are drawn into these oh-so-familiar establishments, rather than seeking out something more local and original. This is a phenomenon certainly not unique to Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Indeed, comfort and convenience seems to have become a big driver in travel, pushing out that more intrinsic desire to see and experience something different. So, as well as the familiar <strong>global brands<\/strong> and names, we also find (and indeed expect to find) tourist-friendly English signs everywhere, <strong>guide books<\/strong> and <strong>apps<\/strong> to help us navigate our destination, etc. The result of this is that it makes us less inclined to interact with the locals. Thus our experiences become somewhat generic, barely differing to how we experience any other popular tourist destinations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s important to state, t<img class=\" size-full wp-image-57246 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/gracia-festival.jpeg\" alt=\"gracia festival\" width=\"266\" height=\"189\" \/>ourism is not inherently a bad thing. In fact it is extremely important. In Barcelona, tourism has facilitated many cross-cutting social and economic gains for Barcelona, through <strong>urban regeneration<\/strong>, growth and diversification of jobs, and continuous revitalisation and diversification of cultural and recreational sectors. The downside, however, is when high profile <strong>tourist destinations<\/strong> become a victim of their own marketing success and the quality of the tourist experience starts to go into decline. Indeed, congestion has been found to be the number one contributing factor to destinations which have gone into decline. It would be very sad to see this happen in Barcelona, a city which at its core has so many unique and authentic things to offer.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_solve_the_problem\"><\/span><strong>How to solve the problem<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the video below, <strong>TED<\/strong> speaker <strong>Doug Lansky<\/strong>, gives his views on how <strong>society<\/strong> might be able to reverse this <strong>modern trend<\/strong> towards safe mass market destinations, and bring back unique and authentic destinations for travellers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As he states, it\u2019s really a question of capacity. The airline carriers and hotels, of course, have their own maximum capacities which they strive to fill but of course can never go over. Yet the tourist attractions and city space are going increasingly over capacity. And so we have enormous queues for tourist attractions, and people fighting for a space to put their towel down on the beach. Lansky says that not providing quality <strong>visitor experience<\/strong> \u2013 from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave \u2013 can short-change the visitor and mean it\u2019s not a great long term strategy for growth.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"How to fix travel | Doug Lansky | TEDxStockholm\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sBaiRpIpPKQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_we_grow_tourism_and_limit_it_at_the_same_time\"><\/span><strong>How can we grow tourism and limit it at the same time?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Be Unique. <\/strong>Barcelona has no real problems in this respect. Barcelona is a city situated within a distinct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/the-value-of-travel-and-barcelona-connecting-you-to-nature-and-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">culture<\/a> with some distinct traditions (think <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/castellers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Castellers<\/a>, Calcotadas and Sardanas to name a few), with a distinct history, distinct architecture, and of course a distinct language \u2013 <strong>Catalan<\/strong>. It also offers a very unique and diverse landscape, as the city stretches from the sea right up to the mountain of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tibidabo.cat\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Tibidabo<\/a>. It is so important, not least to the local people, to maintain the prominence of these unique and authentic features, and not to undermine them with the infiltration of generic mass tourism features.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/castellers.jpg\"><img class=\" size-medium wp-image-57244 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/castellers-221x300.jpg\" alt=\"castellers\" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Managing_capacity\"><\/span><strong>Managing capacity<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One obvious solution is to limit the number of flights coming into cities such as <strong>Barcelona<\/strong> every day. From an objective stance, I think this is an almost critical part of the solution to the problem of overcrowding. But from a purely selfish stance, I love the fact my friends and family can take advantage of regular <strong>cheap flights<\/strong> to come out and visit whenever they wish!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Another aspect of managing the problem is by enabling tourists to make an informed decision. If only we could somehow be able to see, when searching flights and hotels, how busy the attractions are going to be at that time. This however, is something that needs to be resolved and proviced on the part of the flight and hotel companies.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_what_can_travellers_do_to_find_authenticity\"><\/span><strong>So what can travellers do to find authenticity?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Feed your own personal interests<\/strong>. Whether it\u2019s running, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/travel-yoga-how-to-keep-up-with-your-yoga-practice-in-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">yoga<\/a>, drawing, cooking, or something altogether more quirky, there are groups and clubs catering to almost every conceivable interest in Barcelona. For an idea of the vast range of groups and <strong>activities<\/strong> you can join, just take a look on the Barcelona <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/?_cookie-check=YGkBYlrr0ms0aTrycities\/es\/barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Meetups<\/a> website. This is probably the best way to get a truly authentic and quality experience in Barcelona, as well as making friends with people in an organic way. We all have our own intrinsic interests and motivations and by feeding these we come away feeling enriched.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As Lansky says, you should \u201ctravel like a guidebook writer, not a guidebook reader\u201d. So, if you are looking for a place to eat or an interesting event or exhibition, check local review magazines or online for up to date information. The SHBarcelona blog can provide you with plenty of inspiration to make your time in Barcelona truly authentic, original and enjoyable!<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"57239\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 90px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">3<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It all started with the 1992 Olympic Games, hosted in Barcelona. This is when Barcelona\u2019s tourism industry really kicked into action. It\u2019s hard to believe there was a time before this when Barcelona wasn\u2019t on the mainstream tourist map. Since then, and especially since the advent and increasing number of low-cost airline flying in and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":57241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4599],"tags":[2672],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57239"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98869,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57239\/revisions\/98869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}