Tourism Development and Impact in Spain

Tourism

Causes of Development

• Five business days: From Monday to Friday, a long weekend, and a period of paid vacation each year.
• Pensions for invalidity and old age: Workers freed from precautionary savings.
• Use of cars, planes, etc.

Tourist Travel

From the emitting center, tourist flows are directed towards receptor cities depending on the distance. Nuclei may be:

• Near tourist centers: Located within a radius of up to 200 km from the emitting centers. Tourists stay in hotels, with residents, camping, etc.
• Intermediate tourist centers: Located within a radius of 2,000 km from the emitting centers.
• Distant tourist centers: Located 2,000 miles from the broadcasting centers. This space includes, among others, most cultural tours and also vacation areas of tropical countries.

Effects of Tourism

Economic importance: Tourism generates the creation and expansion of businesses and services: airlines, agencies, etc. Tourists spend money in destination locations: travel expenses, accommodation, etc. In poor countries, the tourism industry is often controlled by large tour operators and international transplants, with offices in developed countries.

Tourism in Spain

Spanish Tourist Model

Tourism in Spain underwent its maximum thrust in the 1960s, becoming a mass phenomenon of basically foreign origin. This type of sun and beach tourism has been added in the last decades to the Spanish model, while domestic tourism is a vacation model maintained en masse at affordable prices.

Origin and Destination of Foreign Tourists

The main points of origin for tourism in Spain are: the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the USA, and Portugal. The favorite destinations are: Catalonia, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, and the Valencian Community.

Hotel Amenities

The largest selection of hotels and inns is located in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia, where there is a greater concentration of hotel beds, followed by Andalusia, the Canary Islands, and the Valencian Community.

Domestic Tourism: Tourist Regions

Currently, services related to leisure time involve a large mobile population. While in other times free time was enjoyed in their own locality, new forms of leisure have been introduced into customs.