Some of the Mercadona supermarkets that sell the most in Spain are those of Ibiza. Although it is a small island, in the summer months the concentration of tourists is such that it makes these stores invoice in this summer period more than those located in large cities such as Madrid or Valencia in 12 months.

Juan Roig himself, president of Mercadona, jokes that his company "is a tourist asset for this reason," says a senior executive in the sector.

This example serves to illustrate two phenomena: that of the tourist boom that Spain has experienced in recent years, and that of the saturation of some areas. The sector has been growing above GDP since 2010, although in the last two years it has lost its status as the engine of the economy.

Tourism activity in Spain closed 2019 with an increase of 1.5%, below the growth of Spanish GDP (2%), which implies its worst record since 2013, when the sector grew 0.9%, according to the balance sheet annual presented this week by the tourist lobby Exceltur.

Cooling

The arrival of tourists has cooled down at a time when the Government and the sector rethink the growth model of our country . What is intended is to turn towards a more sustainable one, that flees from massification and avoids turismophobia in the most saturated areas.

This will be one of the challenges addressed in the international tourism fair Fitur, the biggest event in the sector that starts this week and whose main focus is sustainability and technology.

"The goal is to try not to die of success, because we have been focusing on the arrivals record for a long time, as if that were the most important thing , when the ideal is to beat the expense record," illustrates José Luis Zoreda, Vice President of Exceltur .

Spain has already seven years in a row of annual record in the arrival of tourists. From January 2019 to November (latest INE data) 79.4 million people visited our country. " The challenge of Spain and any country or tourist city is not to attract more visitors, but to better manage to avoid saturation peaks and thus inconvenience to residents and a bad visitor experience," the Secretary of State tells this newspaper Tourism, Isabel Oliver.

NOT ATTRACT

From the sector one looks at Amsterdam as an example of a city that has managed to redirect its flows. The authorities stopped investing money in attracting tourists and allocated these investments in training those who arrived. « Amsterdam is an example to follow because it was the first that understood the trinity of interests that need to be in perfect balance for the sustainable success of a destination: those of citizens (permanent residents), those of industry and business fabric (which makes that citizens prosper) and those of tourists (whom they consider temporary citizens), ”says Ana María Marquez, PR director of Interface Tourism Spain.

In his opinion, "they made the courageous decision to stop investing resources in attracting visitors to invest in educating those who have decided to travel and improve the experience of permanent and temporary citizens," he says.

Could Spain take Amsterdam as an example? For Zoreda, the city "came to have probable similar to those that Barcelona has now ", with hordes of tourists on the canals, causing the residents to get fed up. "More than promoting tourism, in some areas tourism must be protected," the director illustrates.

The Dutch capital has been mutating "towards a model that had as its motto 'come to Amsterdam' to another that promotes to go with moderation, at other times of the year and has created other tourist attractions to decongest the center," they explain.

From the Ministry of Tourism they argue that the Government is already trying to do something similar. In this sense, the Smart Tourism Destinations Network project has been developed, which "seeks greater control of tourism, more efficient and sustainable management and an increase in its profitability and competitiveness," said the Secretary of State.

"Technology and data are used to analyze what happens in a destination and anticipate their needs," he explains.

The example of Barcelona

Something similar was done in 1992, when after the Olympic Games in Barcelona, an organization funded by the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce was created to promote the city, so that the entire hotel offer that had been created for the event was still occupied.

«It was possible to capture the interest of visitors, giving permanent attractions to the city to justify its repetition. It was a worldwide example of how to attract. But now some cities are in the opposite position, ”recalls Zoreda, who defends the need to create a similar structure for all of Spain.

In his opinion, technology can help "have more information to avoid the bottleneck in the most demanding areas" , that "Benidorm on duty can better manage its flows". «It is an ally to promote more responsible tourism. From energy savings in hotels or tourist attractions, through the reorganization of tourist flows, ”says Ana Márquez.

change profile

The 2019 tourist arrivals data recently advanced by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism already show a change in trend. This year, fewer visitors have arrived in our country than have always been our main issuing markets, the United Kingdom and Germany. On the contrary, we have been visited by more Russians, Chinese, Americans ...

As Márquez says, it is "to bet on a model that is more inclined to promote destination spending compared to volume." «The records of visits should not be a measure of success because growth has and must have as limits the social, economic and environmental impact on the territory. Tourism should not pressure destinations to dilute their identity and authenticity, causing the phenomenon of tourism, ”he says.

Although the arrival of travelers has cooled, spending has increased and alternative areas have grown, such as those in rural Spain and urban destinations. Exceltur's balance sheet presented this week reveals that Madrid is the destination where spending has grown the most.

It has benefited “from the increase in air connectivity, from the continuous business investment in product improvement, its dynamism instead as business and the multiplication of events, as was the case with the climate summit.

The sun and beach areas have marked a decline, especially the islands, which have been affected by the fall in foreign demand. The Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands have been affected by the bankruptcy of British tour operator Thomas Cook.

His disappearance already put on notice: Spain, or some destinations, cannot depend so much on a single market (United Kingdom, in this case). From Exceltur they deny that the tour operator model is "finished", but they believe that it is evolving.

From the Government they defend that the diversification of products is being promoted, putting in value a highly experiential offer based on the cultural, patrimonial and historical attractions that make us unique; also in the diversification of markets with the focus mainly on Asia and States United, while we look for new profiles of tourists in our traditional emitters "

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Know more

  • Spain
  • Mercadona
  • Madrid
  • GDP
  • Barcelona
  • United Kingdom
  • Valencia
  • Thomas Cook
  • INE
  • Canary Islands
  • Germany
  • tourism
  • economy

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