The Mobile World Congress closes with 60,000 attendees and an impact of 240 million in Barcelona

Attendees at the Mobile World Congress, last Tuesday.MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI (EL PAÍS)

The Mobile World Congress closes its 17th edition this Thursday with 60,000 attendees from 200 countries.

The organizer of the meeting, GSMA, has indicated that the preliminary economic analysis indicates that the congress has contributed more than 240 million euros to the economy of Barcelona and created more than 6,700 part-time jobs in 2022. "Nothing beats the MWC face-to-face, it has been exciting to bring together our community, which is so passionate about connectivity, to discuss the opportunities that lie ahead,” said GSMA CEO John Hoffman.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs recognize that the mobile congress has raised their spirits, despite registering occupancy and billing figures that are still far from those before the pandemic.

What has been the same as in pre-pandemic editions was the rudeness of the president of the Generalitat, on this occasion Pere Aragonès, and the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Ada Colau, to King Felipe VI.

Both avoided the official greeting outside the pavilion during the first day.

The 5G, the metaverse and some modest presentations of devices, especially portable ones, have filled the pavilions of Fira Barcelona de Gran Via these days, with more than 1,000 speakers from more than 150 countries.

This edition will be remembered for the GSMA's veto of the Russian pavilion, for the attack on Ukraine.

"The Russian companies that have come to Mobile should have stayed home," said the CEO of GSMA, John Hoffman, in an interview in the middle of the congress.

During Mobile, the space dedicated to

also played a leading role , with more than 600 companies in the 4 Years From Now (4YFN) venue.

"We closed a very intense MWC22, on a par with the great editions", says the director of the Mobile World Capital, Carlos Grau, who highlights as the central axis of the congress "the humanistic vision of technology".

“In the Mobile World Capital we now have the challenge and the commitment to extend the impact of this MWC22 throughout the year and the territory, says Grau, head of the body in charge of promoting the technological ecosystem of Catalonia.

Regarding the effect of the congress in Barcelona, ​​the president of the Hotel Guild, Jordi Clos, details that in the end the organization of the Mobile has reserved 11,000 rooms (1,000 more than forecast) and that direct reservations have meant between another 3,000 and 4,000 .

In total, hotel occupancy from Sunday to Thursday was 65% of all open hotels (20% are still closed).

In editions prior to 2019 these figures rose to 90%.

"It will take years to see it again, if we see it again," notes the president of the Guild, who celebrates in any case that Mobile has given a "significant push" to hotels.

"We have to think about the present, the future, not the past," he concludes.

The president of the Barcelona Restaurant Guild, Roger Pallarols, observes that the figures for these days [he does not offer precise data] are "modest" because the "international market has not been reestablished and Barcelona has a long way to go before its normal operation ”.

However, Pallarols sees that this year's mobile congress has been a "psychic injection" in a city that "closes two years of economic hole" and sees how "economic reconstruction" appears.

The restaurant reservation portal The Fork (Tripadvisor) has noted a 40% increase in reservations in Barcelona compared to last week, from Monday to Thursday.

Dates for 2023

The cancellation of the Mobile World Congress in 2020, just at the start of the pandemic, was a major setback for the Barcelona economy.

Each year the congress left a trail of wealth of about 500 million, which this year has been estimated at almost half: 240. The attendees of the 2019 edition were 110,000.

Last June the visitors reached only 20,000.

“Numbers have never worried us.

The question is always to have the right people”, answered Hoffman, on whether he sees the possibility of recovering the attendance prior to the pandemic in future editions.

For now, the dates of the congress for 2023 are unknown. The GSMA has an agreement to hold the Mobile in Barcelona until 2024.