Spain has a core objective to transform and modernise the tourism sector by increasing its competitiveness and resilience. The overall aim is to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels but also build a tourism model which is more sustainable, diversified and profitable. Policy initiatives to support the recovery are organised into four main pillars: actions on tourism sustainability, promoting digitisation and new intelligence, a Tourism Resilience Strategy for the Canary and Balearic Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and actions to build competitiveness.
Spain has defined a range of strategic areas, encouraging investments in innovation, energy efficiency and green transition as well as enhancing the effectiveness of policies supporting research. Further actions include sustaining the economy, supporting employment and skills development, improving access to digital learning and broader digitalisation. The Tourism Sustainability Strategy aims to strengthen the environmental, socio-economic and regional sustainability of tourism and targets tourist destinations, social partners and private operators to stimulate:
Green transition – actions on environmental restoration, management and public use of protected natural areas, the implementation of tourism certification systems, the implementation of circular economy measures and investment in cycling / walking paths.
Energy efficiency – actions to reduce CO2 emissions in buildings, public infrastructure and services, implement environmental technologies and improve urban environments.
Digital transformation – actions to digitalise services for tourists at destinations, develop the digital footprint of destinations and improve tourism demand management (see box below).
Competitiveness transformation – improving local tourism infrastructures and fostering job creation through the development of new tourism products relating to culture, nature, gastronomy, traditional crafts and industrial tourism services.
In 2022 Spain started a multiannual programme to rehabilitate historical heritage buildings in the frame of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for Tourism. The budget for 2024 is EUR 208 million.
The Tourism Resilience Strategy for the extra-peninsular territories (Canary and Balearic Islands and Ceuta and Melilla) will improve the competitiveness and capacity of these territories to adapt to changes in international markets. These regional strategies have been approved by the national government and include investment in public infrastructure, environmental management and waste treatment, reinforcement of public services, training (especially youth training) linked to the tourism sector, development of alternative tourism products, incentives to facilitate the connectivity of these territories and for tourism companies to operate outside the high season, and development of new tourism products aligned with the Sustainable Tourism Strategy. Spain is also implementing specific actions to build competitiveness across the country. The Sectoral Conference established gastronomy and wine in 2022‑23.
As part of the plan to modernise and enhance competitiveness of the tourism sector, the National Food and Wine Tourism Plan aims to convert the body of knowledge, know-how, arts and crafts that enable healthy eating and drinking into sustainable and integrated tourism experiences throughout the territory. The National Plan is structured around: food and wine destinations (EUR 51.4 million), Spain Tourism Experiences Programme (EUR 10 million and EUR 5 million for additional actions), and an international promotion programme (EUR 2.2 million). Its objectives are developed around the product, process and culture, involving the entire value chain by: (i) promoting Spanish food and wine destinations by financing destination sustainability plans; (ii) generating sustainable and diverse gastronomic tourism experiences; (iii) improving training of workers in the food and wine tourism value chain, enhancing their digital skills and sustainability; (iv) collecting existing practices that give meaning to the concept of Spanish gastronomy in an accessible and open space to generate a differential message and building stories to inspire other initiatives in the country, and (v) deepening the use of gastronomy and wine as a pillar for tourism promotion of Spain abroad.
