Measuring and Monitoring the Sustainability of Tourism at Regional Level in Spain

Chapter 1. Measuring and monitoring the sustainability of tourism in Spain

Abstract

This chapter introduces the policy context and project aims to develop a system of indicators to measure and monitor the sustainability of tourism. It provides an overview of the characteristics of the four participating regions – Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra, and the Region of Valencia – including major tourism products and destinations, existing tourism strategies, key sustainability issues and existing measurement frameworks used for assessing the sustainability of tourism. All four regions have destination management strategies in place that incorporate sustainability either as a core guiding principle or through the identification of specific priority areas to improve sustainability. The regions face common challenges to measure and monitor tourism sustainability, including resource constraints, lack of harmonised methodologies and data gaps on social and environmental impacts of tourism.

Tourism is one of the cornerstones of Spain’s economy, and an important driver of regional development. Spain’s National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan set out a comprehensive reform agenda and roadmap to modernise and build a more sustainable, resilient and competitive tourism sector. Spain has also made significant progress in tourism statistics, including at the regional level. This report, and the activities undertaken to inform it, aim to support the ambition through the development and piloting of a system of indicators to measure and monitor the sustainability of tourism at regional level, building on existing frameworks at international, national and regional level. The work was undertaken with four beneficiary regions: Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra and the Region of Valencia.

Policy context and reform agenda for sustainable tourism development

In 2022, Spain introduced a National Sustainability Strategy for Tourism, which conceives tourism as a complex ecosystem that contributes to regional development and territorial cohesion. The strategy places sustainability at the heart of destination management and highlights monitoring environmental, socio-economic, and territorial dimensions. The strategy aims to promote a more balanced distribution of the impacts of tourism across territories through an approach that fosters co-operation among regions.

All four beneficiary Spanish regions have destination management strategies in place that include sustainability either as a core guiding principle or through the identification of specific priority areas for improving sustainability. Monitoring the effectiveness of tourism policies and measuring the sustainability of tourism remain, however, challenging for Spanish regions, including Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra, and Valencia. Regional governments have limited capacity and tools to measure the economic, social and environmental impact of tourism activities. A particular challenge has been the adoption of consistent methodologies across regions and linking data to the national statistical system as well as to international frameworks. Regions would benefit from clearly defined and comparable tourism sustainability indicators. Coherence can be strengthened by building on official tourism statistics and aligning with national measurements. To provide a more complete picture of the positive and negative impacts of tourism, the indicator set integrates both traditional and new measures. These can help regions to benchmark across time and geographic locations, providing a sound evidence base for decision-making to facilitate sustainable tourism development in Spain.

Governance arrangements for tourism policy and statistics

In Spain, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism is responsible for tourism at national level. The State, relying on different sections of Article 149 of the Constitution, exercises functions related to international relations, the promotion and marketing of Spanish tourism abroad, setting guidelines for Autonomous Communities' promotional activities abroad, professional qualifications in tourism, regulation of travel agencies operating outside their Autonomous Community's jurisdiction, tourism insurance, tourism registries, legislation impacting tourism within the scope of Article 149, and coordinating the general regulation of tourism activities. Autonomous Communities, including Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra, and the region of Valencia, based on Article 148.1.18 of the Constitution, can carry out functions such as planning and organising tourism activities and the regulation and promotion of tourism professions within their territorial jurisdiction (European Committee of the Regions, n.d.[1]). As an advisory body, the Spanish Tourism Council (CONESTUR) brings together tourism administrations (state, regions and provinces/cities) as well as the private sector, such as chambers of trade, the National Employers’ Association, professional associations, trade unions and a wide spectrum of tourism professionals.

At national level, the National Statistics Office INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) is responsible for tourism statistics. Regional statistical offices in Andalusia (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía) and Catalonia (IDESCAT – Instituto de Estadística de Cataluña) work together closely with the regional tourism bodies. The Public Entity for Tourism and Sport Management in Andalusia (Empresa Pública para la Gestión del Turismo y del Deporte de Andalucía, Junta de Andalucía) is another producer of tourism statistics in Andalusia, publishing data on their smart.data website. In Navarra, a regional statistical institute (Instituto de Estadística de Navarra) is complemented by a Tourism Observatory hosted by the Directorate of Tourism and Trade of the Government of Navarra. The Observatory is part of the UN Tourism International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) and works to improve tourism data and statistics in the region. In Valencia, a regional statistical institute exists (IVE – Institut Valencià d'Estadística), but tourism data analysis is an activity undertaken by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana (part of the regional government). Turisme Comunitat Valenciana has signed a collaboration agreement with INE for improved territorial disaggregation of data. Developing, implementing and using a set of indicators to move to more sustainable models of tourism requires coordinated action between policymakers and data specialists across different levels of government.

Project aims and approach

This project ‘Support to Spain’s Tourism Ecosystem: towards a more sustainable, resilient and digital tourism’ aims to help fill these gaps. In particular, the project aims to:

• Develop a coherent system of common indicators for measuring and monitoring the sustainability of tourism at regional level in Spain, to support destination management.

• Establish base line data and build capacity by a pilot implementation of the proposed core set of indicators in selected destinations in Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra, and Region of Valencia.

• Help regions to benchmark and compare progress to transform regional destinations, fostering data-oriented organisations that contribute to deliver sustainable development.

The project takes into consideration existing work in the field of measuring the sustainability of tourism. Recent and ongoing work was reviewed to identify relevant good practices at regional, national and international levels to inform this new indicator set. The work also included a review of the measurement approaches and indicators for the measurement of tourism sustainability adopted across the four Spanish regions. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 provide an overview of how these frameworks overlap and differ and how they informed the framework proposed for the four Spanish regions.

The project adopted a participatory approach for the identification of the common set of indicators to measure the sustainability of tourism in the four Spanish regions. Annex 1.A provides a detailed overview of the activities carried out. In particular, besides desk research, the project took stock and assessed the strategies, policy priorities and monitoring frameworks for improving the sustainability of tourism across the four Spanish regions through a fact-finding questionnaire administered to key stakeholders in the regions, and consultations (i.e. one roundtable and four fact-finding meetings) with stakeholders from each of the regions. A first draft set of indicators was then developed based on these inputs, and further refined through an iterative process of consultations with the four Spanish regions. The consultations took place through three technical workshops that saw the participation of key stakeholders from the four Spanish regions, including representatives of end-users, statisticians, national and international tourism institutions, tourism advisors, regional government representatives and others. The workshop discussions focused on identifying key sustainability issues, dimensions and policy priorities for the regions, the rationale for core and supplementary indicators and the overall structure of the indicator framework. Identifying data requirements, parameter specifications, and technical details around the measurability of each of the indicators was another area of focus. Building on the series of workshops and draft report, the indicator framework was further validated and refined through a piloting phase from November 2023 until May 2024.

Regional specificities and context in Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra and Valencia

While striving for comparability and building on international good practices, the indicator framework needs to reflect the local realities of the four regions Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra and Valencia. The four tables below (Table 1.1, Table 1.2, Table 1.3, Table 1.4) provide an overview of the respective regional characteristics, including major tourism products and destinations, existing tourism strategies (or equivalent guiding documents), key sustainability issues and existing measurement frameworks used for assessing the sustainability of tourism in the region. This contextual analysis forms the basis for the indicator framework presented in Chapter 3.

Table 1.1. Regional context in Andalusia

Andalusia
Key tourism products and destinations	Tourism in Andalusia is characterised by concentrated demand and supply in coastal areas, nature-based tourism in the inland areas and cultural as well as business tourism in twelve major cities.
Strategy	The strategy of tourism in Andalusia is to promote the region as an inclusive, accessible tourism destination, by developing a more sustainable, balanced tourism model across the region in order to improve cohesion and reduce seasonality. The General Plan for Sustainable Tourism of Andalusia META 2027 is the core strategic document for tourism development in the region. It constitutes an update of the General Plan for Sustainable Tourism in Andalusia 2014-2020, building on previous strategic instruments such as the Masterplan for Tourism Quality Andalusia, the Strategy for the Promotion of Sustainable Domestic Tourism in Andalusia Horizon 2020 and the Strategy for Tourism Seasonality.
Key sustainability issues	Governance: Create effective and efficient decision-making and management structures of Andalusian tourism destinations. Management of overall sustainability of the tourism destination: Develop instruments and shared responsibilities by the tourism value chain to ensure an effective implementation of a sustainable development process in the Andalusian economy. Strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism sector: Develop knowledge-creation, training and employment opportunities in the tourism sector. Quality improvement: Achieve a substantial improvement in the services offered in destinations. Seasonality: Reduce seasonality and adopt measures that reduce seasonality of tourism activities. Tourism marketing optimisation: Develop impactful promotion and communication strategies, marketing Andalusia as a sustainable tourism destination.
Existing indicator frameworks	Andalusia System of Sustainable Tourism Development Indicators (SISTA): The region has developed a list of 348 indicators in 39 key areas within seven dimensions: Governance, Territory, Vulnerability, Profitability, Diversification, Quality, Innovation. Data mostly comes from official statistics and regional surveys. One of the key strengths of the framework is that it has been developed following extensive dialogue between indicator creators and policy actors (Moniche and Gallego, 2023[2]). The indicators aim to measure a process of continuous evolution for tourism in the region. They are weighted to keep a balance of the importance of different sustainability issues. A synthetic indicator is used to reflect the overall development, using the reference point technique. While the composite indicator facilitates aggregate communication, a disadvantage of this approach is the subjectivity in the selection of the weighting undertaken by the SISTA working group. The large number of indicators also requires considerable work for data compilation. Models of Integrated Tourism in the MEDiterranean Plus (MITOMED+): Andalusia actively participated in the initiative MITOMED+. Indicators are structured according to four pillars: Economic, Environmental, Social & Cultural and Global. BEST MED Sustainable Path and Cultural Routes Model: As part of the European BEST MED project, MITOMED+ developed a toolkit and indicator framework to support the sustainable management of Mediterranean Routes. The framework presents a list of 53 indicators in 12 categories and within four sustainability dimensions. There is a focus on sustainable management of regional routes as well as the measurement of environmental impacts. As the framework aims to target different countries and regions of the European Union, the indicators mainly use data sources provided by Eurostat. Due to its focus on the sustainability evaluation of cultural routes, it misses some overarching regional tourism-sustainability issues. Moreover, the focus on Mediterranean coastal regions leads to a dominance of coastal tourism specific sustainability issues, which are not relevant to inland destinations.
Measurement gaps and priorities	Lack of an internationally recognised and practical set of sustainability indicators Establish joint agreements/commitments in different areas of public administration as tourism is a cross-cutting sector Due to regional differences, there is a need to prioritise essential indicators that create political understanding and consensus Enhance co-operation among stakeholders, to reduce the lack of data availability Enhance the willingness and resources required to establish continuity of an indicator framework

Table 1.2. Regional context in Catalonia

Catalonia
Key tourism products and destinations	Catalonia has four main territories with different profiles. Girona and Tarragona are known for their “sun and beach” tourism. Barcelona is the second most frequented city-tourism destination in Europe with a high tourism intensity throughout the year, whilst Lleida is a rural destination, focusing on ski tourism in the winter and nature-based tourism during the summer months.
Strategy	The regional tourism strategy of Catalonia provides general guidelines for tourism development. One main vision for 2025 is to bring Catalonia to a higher, more sustainable level of prosperity in the tourism sector, through a strategy of responsible growth. To achieve this vision, the strategy proposes to put sustainability at the core of all tourism activities, projects, and plans and to establish a balance of interests between tourists, entrepreneurs and investors, the local population, the natural and cultural environment. In early 2023, the Catalan tourism sector launched the National Commitment for Responsible Tourism which can be signed by all tourism stakeholders in Catalonia. It sets objectives with respect to the fight against climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, universal access to destinations, the improvement of employment quality and the decarbonisation of the tourism economy. The National Commitment for Responsible Tourism aims to mobilise collective participation and reconcile diverse projects and perspectives around tourism.
Key sustainability issues	The Catalonia tourism model aims to be environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive and universally accessible (Agència Catalana de Turisme, 2019[3]), reflected in three strategic objectives: Promote sustainability commitments: Implementation of sustainability certifications that are related to natural and cultural heritage and sustainable management practices of businesses and tourism destinations. Create sustainable tourism experiences: Engage travellers in natural activities that help preserve natural biodiversity and cultural heritage. Provide examples of best practices for tourism stakeholders. Accessible tourism, tourism for All: Support entities to adapt their facilities, so that all visitors are able to enjoy Catalonia.
Existing indicator frameworks	Tourism Intelligence Indicators System (INTUCAT): This indicator system aims to evaluate the dynamics of tourism sustainability in Catalonia. The framework is based on four areas of measurement with a total of 23 indicators. The four areas cover environmental, social and economic sustainability of tourism destinations, complemented by an area measuring SDG achievements by 2030. The indicators are also measured for other significant destinations of the north-western Mediterranean area, as well as key destinations in the Adriatic and Atlantic coastal areas, in order to evaluate sustainability impacts in a comparative way. This is done by adapting each indicator within a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 is the maximum value obtained in the calculation of the indicator and is awarded to the destination that has achieved the highest value. The framework uses mainly international data sources from Eurostat or national official tourism statistics. Due to the aim of providing comparative data, the framework mainly covers overarching regional tourism-sustainability issues, with a focus on Mediterranean coastal regions. Catalan Tourism Strategic Plan: The tourism strategy proposes a list of 29 sustainability indicators for the implementation of the strategy that is directly linked to the criteria by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
Measurement gaps and priorities	Lack of an internationally recognised and useful set of sustainability indicators Due to resource constraints, there is the need to prioritise essential indicators that are able to mobilise political consensus and action Existence of data gaps, especially for environmental indicators with a direct linkage to tourism Ensure data consistency when providing information for public administrations and tourism businesses Enhance the willingness and understanding necessary to establish the continuity for an indicator framework

Table 1.3. Regional context in Navarra

Navarra
Key tourism products and destinations	Navarra is located on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering the Basque Country, Aragon, La Rioja, and France. It is characterised by its natural landscapes, ranging from the high mountains of the Pyrenees in the East to the plains of the Ebro River in the South. Navarra is traditionally associated with the Sanfermines, Way of St. James, and a strong regional identity including Basque culture, castles and churches, gastronomy and rural tourism.
Strategy	The Strategic Plan for Tourism Navarra 2018-2025 highlights five core strategic objectives: 1) consolidate Navarra’s position in local tourism markets, 2) attract seasonally adjusted demand from the European market, 3) strengthen the competitiveness of nature-based tourism, cultural tourism and sustainable tourism, 4) promote co-operation between tourism stakeholders, and 5) improve collaboration amongst regional and local administration. The Territorial Plan for Tourism Sustainability in Navarra provides development strategies that aim to turn tourism in Navarra into a benchmark for sustainable tourism at the European level. It also includes strategic clusters for the eight touristic subregions (UGET – Unidades de gestión de espacios turísticos de Navarra). In addition to these overarching strategies, there are specific development plans for rural tourism, the gastronomy sector and the Way of St James. Navarra is also implementing the Tourism Sustainability Plans in Destinations for local entities under the NextGenerationEU instrument – to support the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and build a greener, more digital and more resilient future – investing around 50 million euros of financing over the next three years.
Key sustainability issues	Balance environmental, economic and social impacts of tourism activities Guarantee that tourism development does not entail a deterioration or loss of territorial capital Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from tourism activities, especially in transportation Manage visitor flows and reduce overconcentration Develop decent jobs in tourism Maintain and enhance regional identification through tourism activities
Existing indicator frameworks	Navarra Sustainable Tourism Observatory Framework (INSTO): Navarra is part of the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories. The region has set up a Tourism Sustainability Indicator Framework, with eleven monitoring areas, covering environmental, social and economic sustainability dimensions. The network serves as a platform for sharing international experience in measuring sustainability impacts of tourism and monitoring progress across eleven issue areas, without prescribing a specific set of metrics. Indicators in Navarra may differ from monitoring period to monitoring period as no fixed set has been agreed upon. Regional-specific indicator framework of the subregion Ribera: This framework monitors the sustainability of tourism across four dimensions: sustainability management, conservation of cultural heritage, conservation and improvement of the environment, and the social and economic development of local destinations. This framework is part of the region’s Smart Destination Strategy.
Measurement gaps and priorities	Dispersed, rural tourism contexts such as Navarra’s present challenges for systematic data collection Diverse, non-standardised data sources Small regional samples in national studies, due to the size of the region, lead to non-representative results of certain official statistics Need to obtain data from private sources, which brings high costs Due to resource constraints, there is a need to prioritise essential indicators that are able to mobilise political consensus and action Enhance the willingness and capacity necessary to establish the continuity of an indicator framework

Table 1.4. Regional context in the Region of Valencia

Region of Valencia
Key tourism products and destinations	The Region of Valencia is located on the south-eastern coast of Spain and is home to the third largest city in Spain, Valencia. The city has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is known for its Arts and Sciences City campaign and many events. The surrounding region of Valencia is mainly known for its beaches and towns of the Costa Blanca, the mountainous landscapes of Castellón, and small towns in the Valencian mountains.
Strategy	The Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Law of the Valencian Community establishes the general reference framework for the development of tourism in the region, based on sustainability, collaborative environments, ethics, innovation and digitisation. Within this framework, there is a commitment to directing the Valencian tourism model towards greater sustainability. The Valencian Strategic Plan 2020-2025 provides a holistic roadmap of tourism development regarding climate change, products, markets, competitiveness, technologies and governance. Sustainability is one of the six strategic pillars, along with territorial structure, hospitality, human capital, responsibility and safety. The Tourism Sustainability Plan (PSTDS) is an action plan for the sustainable development of the tourism destination towards a model based on environmental, socioeconomic and territorial sustainability. Considering the impact of tourism on the region, Valencia developed Manuals of 100 SDG recommendations for tourist destinations and tourism companies in the Valencian Community and the Manual for the adaptation of tourist destinations to climate change, providing recommendations to destinations and companies for implementing sustainability measures. A strategic plan with a focus on sustainability is currently under development by the new Valencian Government, including data to measure and monitor the impacts of tourism.
Key sustainability issues	Urban planning and tourism development regulations Application of plans or instruments for sustainable tourism development Sustainable urban mobility Promoting the circular economy Management of environmental resources Awareness of tourism for residents Climate change adaptation Adopt the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism Manage of visitor flows and reduce undesirable concentration Guarantee safety and health care for visitors Strengthen crisis management at the destination
Existing indicator frameworks	Network of Smart Tourism Destinations of the Valencia Region (DTI-CV): The general guideline for developing Valencia as a smart tourism destination includes a list of 30 indicators, distributed around 14 general sustainability issues. Technical Indicators for the region of Valencia: The region has set up a range of further indicator schemes, such as a list of recommended metrics for destinations and businesses within the dimensions of Social Responsibility, Governance and Environment, with the aim to implement measures for the SDGs. In addition, the Tourism Sustainability Plan also includes metrics for the three dimensions, that have a rather regional focus. The Valencia City Community also implements a city-wide Tourism Sustainability Assessment System (IST) that includes several indicators within the same three dimensions with a focus on environmental aspects.
Measurement gaps and priorities	Due to resource constraints, there is a need to prioritise essential indicators that are able to create a political understanding Data gaps, especially for measuring social issues Due to a limited data availability at official sources, there is a growing demand to obtain non-traditional data such as big data Ensure data consistency when providing information for public administrations and tourism businesses Enhance the willingness and the understanding required to establish the continuity of an indicator framework

References

[3] Agència Catalana de Turisme (2019), Catalonia, a sustainable destination, https://act.gencat.cat/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AA_FINAL3_A4-Catalonia-sustainable-destination-2021-CONTRASTADO-FINAL14912.pdf.

[1] European Committee of the Regions (n.d.), Division of powers: Spain - Tourism, https://portal.cor.europa.eu/divisionpowers/Pages/Spain-tourism.aspx.

[2] Moniche, A. and I. Gallego (2023), “Benefits of policy actor embeddedness for sustainabletourism indicators’design: the case of Andalusia”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 31/7, pp. 1756-1775.

Annex 1.A. Overview of activities that informed the indicator set development

Kick-off meeting and roundtable

25 October 2022: Kick-off meeting and roundtable in Marbella, Spain

Fact-finding meetings

24 November 2022: Fact-finding meeting with Andalusia, virtual

25 November 2022: Fact-finding meeting with Catalonia, virtual

28 November 2022: Fact-finding meeting with Navarra, virtual

30 November 2022: Fact-finding meeting with Valencia, virtual

Technical workshops

19 – 20 December 2022: First technical workshop in Marbella, Spain

26 – 27 January 2023: First technical workshop in Barcelona, Spain

21 – 22 February 2023: Third technical workshop Pamplona, Spain

Piloting phase

17 November 2023: Piloting preparatory meeting, virtual

15 – 16 February and 12 March 2024: Two piloting progress meetings, one virtual, one in Marbella, Spain

30 April 2024: Piloting evaluation workshop in Barcelona, Spain

Additional region-internal meetings

From November 2023 to March 2024, representatives from Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra and the Region of Valencia, held a series of meetings to discuss and refine the indicators across four dimensions as well as to test their practical application.

• 9 and 30 November, 14 December 2023; 11 January, 1 and 21 February, 4 and 20 March 2024: Meetings to discuss methodology, data sources and policy alignment among regions

• 26 March as well as 9, 15 and 22 April 2024: Meetings to accompany the piloting implementation, aligning methodologies, testing calculations and fostering peer learning