The Sitges Hospitality Guild held the fifth edition of Tourism Night at the ME Sitges Terramar hotel. This annual event is an opportunity to look back on the tourism season in Sitges and discuss the challenges facing the sector. The event was attended by the Government of Catalonia’s local delegate in the Penedès region, Lluís Valls; the Government of Catalonia’s director-general of tourism, Cristina Lagé; Barcelona Provincial Council’s tourism representative, Ana Herrera; and the mayor of Sitges, Aurora Carbonell, in addition to other leading politicians and figures from the hospitality industry.

Lluís Valls noted that tourism represents 12% of GDP and nearly 14% of jobs in Catalonia, which is also the autonomous region with the highest number of international tourists, reaching 17.6 million foreign visitors by October. “Through your activities, ideas and proposals, all of you are creating shared prosperity that we must continue creating through sustainability, quality and, above all, a specific Catalan model,” he said. “It’s clear that by making Sitges a better place, we’re also making Catalonia a better place.”

“Although we welcome large numbers of visitors and tourists, our city is firmly committed to sustainability, as evidenced by the renewal of our Biosphere Gold certification and implementation of programmes linked to the Plans for Tourism Sustainability at Destinations, funded by the Next Generation programme,” said the mayor of Sitges, Aurora Carbonell. She also highlighted the importance of food in relation to tourism. “Sitges has signed on to the recognition of Catalonia as a World Region of Gastronomy, reflecting not only the quality of our culinary offer, but also the rich culture and spirit of commitment that define our destination.” Carbonell concluded with the following reflection: “Tonight, we’re celebrating our identity as a tourist destination. I’m very proud of it and pleased with Sitges, with how the seasons are going. I’m sure there’s room for improvement, but we’re a highly attractive city for tourism.”

The chair of the Sitges Hospitality Guild, Oskar Stöber, also referenced Catalonia’s designation as World Region of Gastronomy 2025. “It’s a good opportunity to once again explain how we work with our local products, how we treat our visitors and how we share 

our traditions. We believe that Sitges can contribute to raising the profile of this World Region of Gastronomy.”

Honours and awards

Tourism Night was attended by Guild members, as well as people and professionals in the sector who were recognised for their careers or work to promote Sitges and tourism. One of the Distinguished Friends recognised by the Guild was Oriol Castro, who was also nominated in 2023 but was unable to collect the award. This year there were even more reasons for the honour, as Castro’s restaurant Disfrutar was named the best restaurant in the world at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 ceremony held in Las Vegas in June. The Distinguished Friend recognition was also conferred upon Sitges Local Police, for their hundred years of service to the city, and Talino Plana Solsona, for outstanding contributions to the hospitality sector. The Guild also awarded Toni Alemany its Golden Pin in recognition of his many years of dedication and work within the association.

The event additionally included the presentation of prize certificates for the winning establishments in the spring edition of Sitges Tapa a Tapa. The technical panel awarded first prize to the MiM Sitges restaurant, second prize to Sofía by Pic Nic and third prize to Casa Hidalgo. The runners-up were the Pic Nic restaurant and the Rojo Frito vermouth bar.