From: OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2014 Access the complete publication at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/tour-2014-en Spain Please cite this chapter as: OECD (2014), Spain, in OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2014, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/tour-2014-36-en
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Spain Tourism in the economy Tourism is one of the mainstays of the Spanish economy and an outstanding driver of social development. It accounts for almost 11% of Spain s GDP and 11.8% of employment. Thanks to modest growth year on year, tourism continues to contribute substantially to offsetting the country s trade deficit. With 57.7 million foreign visitors (+2.7% over 2011) and EUR 43.3 billion in international tourism receipts (+1.2%), Spain consolidated its position in 2012 as the fourth largest destination worldwide in terms of arrivals, and the second largest in terms of receipts. In the same year, tourism expenditure overall was nearly EUR 55.6 billion (+5.7% compared with 2011) and Spain maintained its position as the leader in the European Union ranking in terms of hotel overnight volume, with 280 million bednights recorded. The tourism unemployment rate was 17.9%, as against the national rate of 25%. Overall, trends in inbound tourism in 2012 were positive and, according to data from the Institute for Tourism Studies (IET), the trend continued in 2013. Tourism organisation and governance Tourism comes under the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism through the offices of the State Secretariat for Tourism (Figure 1). The State Secretariat is responsible for defining, developing co-ordinating and implementing tourism policy that falls within the sphere of the central government s responsibility, as well as institutional relations at national and international level. The Spanish Tourism Institute (Turespaña) is the administrative unit of central government charged with promoting Spain abroad as a tourism destination. It has 33 offices worldwide, which are part of Spain s embassies and consulates. Turespaña operates in the following areas: Planning, developing and carrying out activities aimed at promoting Spain as a tourism destination in international markets. Supporting the marketing of Spanish tourism products abroad in co-operation with regional and local authorities and the private sector. Undertaking research to determine the different influences on tourism, gathering statistical information and data on the tourism sector, and creating, disseminating and co-ordinating knowledge and intelligence on tourism generated by the various administrative units. Establishing the strategy, plan of action and investments for new Spanish paradors (Paradores de Turismo de España). 292
Figure 1. Spain: Organisational chart of tourism bodies Inter-Ministry Committee for Tourism Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism The Sectorial Tourism Conference The Spanish Tourism Board Turespaña s Advisory Council State Secretariat for Tourism Department for Co-operation and Tourism Competitiveness Department for Tourism Development and Sustainability State Company for Innovation and Tourism Technology Management (SEGITTUR) Spain Institute for Tourism (Turespaña) Department of Marketing Department of Knowledge and Tourism Studies State Network of Tourist Establishments and Facilities (Paradores de Turismo de España) Spanish Tourist Offices Department of Strategy and Services Department of Services Administration and Technology Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, 2014. Under the Spanish Constitution, the autonomous regions are responsible for the promotion and regulation of tourism within their own territories. The state s role is in international relations, the promotion and marketing of tourism abroad, tourism policy, and the overall regulation of tourism activity, in addition to national economic planning in which tourism is a key component. Local entities (provinces and municipalities) manage their own tourism interests at the local level, mainly in terms of promotion and dissemination of information. One important body is the Patronato de Turismo (mostly in the main cities), on which the Congress Offices depend, and which in turn support the private sector in their commercial strategies to attract congresses and fairs. This distribution of powers creates a network of inter-administrative relations and various instruments of co-operation in tourism matters. Co-operation is key to ensuring maximum operational effectiveness. The Paradores de Turismo de España is a state company under the control of the Spanish Tourism Institute, whose principal function is the management and operation of stateowned properties mostly historic buildings that have been purpose-adapted as hotels. The concept has proved enormously successful in recovering and conserving Spain s historical heritage. There are currently 93 paradors in operation. Four other tourism-related bodies should be mentioned: The Inter-Ministerial Committee for Tourism (Comisión Interministerial de Turismo) isa collegiate, advisory and executive co-ordination body whose members represent those national ministries that have responsibility for tourism-related matters. 293
The Sectoral Tourism Conference (Conferencia Sectorial de Turismo) is the collegiate, advisory and executive co-ordination body, which brings together public representatives from central government and the autonomous regions with tourism responsibilities. The Spanish Tourism Board (Consejo Español de Turismo CONESTUR) is an advisory body, which brings together all the territorial tourism administrations (state, regions and provinces/cities) and the private sector (i.e. chambers of trade, the National Employers Association (CEOE), professional associations, trade unions and a wide spectrum of tourism professionals). Turespaña s Advisory Council (Consejo Asesor de Turespaña) is an advisory board established in 2013 to enhance collaboration with the private sector. It comprises eleven members, five of whom come from the private sector. Tourism budgets Under the Constitution, the autonomous regions operate autonomously and rely on their own budgets, so they do not directly affect the state budget or national taxation. At the national level, the current (2013) budget for the State Secretariat for Tourism is EUR 394 million (compared with EUR 518 million in 2012), the budget for Turespaña is EUR 83 million (EUR 97.8 million in 2012), and the budget for tourism promotion is EUR 43 million (EUR 53.6 million). The main sources of funding for Turespaña are the paradors (EUR 9 million), commercial transactions (EUR 4.8 million), financial support (in the form of refunds) from the Spanish tourist offices abroad, and the ministry (EUR 69 million). Tourism-related policies and programmes The current National Tourism Plan (2012-15), the Plan Nacional e Integral de Turismo (PNIT), is managed through the Secretaría de Estado de Turismo. It was designed as a set of measures to boost the competitiveness of Spanish tourism enterprises and destinations, renew Spain s world tourism leadership for the coming decades, and contribute towards the generation of wealth, employment and well-being for the nation. The PNIT was developed in response to the needs of the tourism sector, namely: Leadership, in terms of bringing together all stakeholders and resources in a common endeavour. Public-private collaboration, ensuring alignment in policy development and decisionmaking, as well as the funding of tourism promotion. Across-the-board policies and strategies, involving all government departments and agencies at local, regional, national and European level. An institutional structure and framework to boost the competitiveness of tourism enterprises, harmonising legislation across the whole national territory. A country- and sector-wide tourism strategy and policies based on an innovative vision of Spain as a tourism destination. The seven key objectives of the PNIT are to: boost tourism and the profitability of the sector; generate quality employment; encourage market unity; improve Spain s international positioning; enhance the cohesion and notoriety of Brand Spain ; encourage 294
public-private co-responsibility; and reduce tourism seasonality. In line with these goals, the PNIT focuses on three key measures: promote knowledge, entrepreneurship and training; improve Spain s tourism offer; and diversify demand. This new strategy requires innovation, new marketing and business models; the sustainable management of destinations; new forms of communication; and an emphasis on customer welfare in the broadest sense, with special attention to health and the environment. Brand Spain acts as a lever to improve the overall brand image of the country not just as a tourism destination and to enhance awareness and positive perceptions. Co-ordination and co-operation between the main players in Spain s tourism industry, as well as with all other stakeholders, are key to building and promoting Brand Spain for the benefit of the industry, government and local communities. The tourism sector plays an important role in this initiative. A new marketing strategy was adopted in 2012, providing a methodology for prioritising investment by individual markets, products and segments, as well as for pursuing differentiated positioning in the various segments targeted. Reducing seasonality: The negative effect of seasonality on Spain s tourism performance is reflected in the use of tourism infrastructure, the fast turnover of staff, and the declining service quality. This requires urgent measures to incentivise low-season demand for travel in and to Spain. AENA (Aeropuertos Nacionales y Navegación Aérea), the state body responsible for airports, has been tasked with developing a new, flexible scheme for airport landing and other charges, based on the number of travellers and the capacity of each airport it manages. Visa facilitation: Given the strong growth in demand for tourist visas from emerging markets, as well as their future growth potential, the Spanish government is looking at ways of simplifying visa processing and ensuring faster delivery of visas. The aim is to optimise visa services, enhance tourism demand from markets that require visas, reduce bureaucracy, and cut costs. New legal and fiscal measures are being considered to improve the tourism operating environment especially in small towns that attract unsustainable numbers of tourists at peak times of the year to avoid the commoditisation of tourism products, and to help Spanish businesses and destinations reshape and adapt their tourism offer to meet the needs of new, niche markets and segments. In addition, in a move to improve the competitiveness of Spain s tourism products, a uniform system of classification and categorisation of hotels, rural establishments and camping sites is being developed. Regional governments will be encouraged to adopt the homogenous rating system for the benefit of the country s tourism overall. Other measures include leveraging the cultural wine-making and gastronomic heritage of Spain, which is a major attraction for tourists, and which helps to differentiate Spain s tourism offer from that of its competitors. The aim is to increase awareness of the local cuisine and wines of different regions and develop appropriate tour products to attract new business. In an effort to stimulate the development of innovative tourism projects by young entrepreneurs, credit lines are being opened by government, facilitating their access to financing at better-than-market rates. In addition, the necessary tools will be made available to enterprises and entrepreneurs to help them identify new opportunities and draw up their business plans. 295
However, the tourism sector is influenced by decisions and actions undertaken across all government departments, e.g. with regard to visas, airport fees, land-use planning, historical and cultural heritage. Yet, traditionally, legislative initiatives have shown little sensitivity regarding their repercussions for tourism. For this reason, a new legal requirement has been proposed to ensure that all regulatory proposals whether from the EU, the Spanish national government, regional or local government include an analysis of their potential impact on the tourism sector. Existing surveys on national statistics, etc. are being reviewed and re-oriented in line with the needs of the industry in order to strengthen IET s leadership position in the field and align its position more closely with that of Turespaña, aswellasreducingcostsand responding to pressures from the regional observatories. Statistical profile Table 1. Spain: Domestic tourism Unit 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total domestic trips.......... Overnight visitors (tourists) Thousand 157 615 154 995 145 477 147 408 146 554 Same-day visitors (excursionists).......... Trips by main purpose of visit Business and professional.......... Holiday, leisure and recreation.......... Nights in all means of accommodation Thousand 681 694 674 735 636 415 649 479 642 337 Hotels and similar establishments.......... Other collective establishments.......... Domestic travel receipts.......... Source: Institute of Tourism Studies (IET). 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989133 Table 2. Spain: Inbound tourism Unit 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total international arrivals Thousand 97 670 91 899 93 744 99 187 99 195 Overnight visitors (tourists) 1 Thousand 57 192 52 178 52 677 56 177 57 701 Same-day visitors (excursionists) Thousand 40 478 39 722 41 067 43 010 41 495 Top markets United Kingdom Thousand 15 775 13 297 12 440 13 615 13 654 Germany Thousand 10 063 8 935 8 814 8 975 9 336 France Thousand 8 149 7 955 8 125 8 375 8 969 Italy Thousand 3 354 3 188 3 490 3 765 3 572 Netherlands Thousand 2 480 2 089 2 276 2 772 2 549 Nights in all means of accommodation.......... Hotels and similar establishments.......... Other collective establishments.......... Total international receipts Million EUR 47 646 42 718 44 797 48 477 49 190 International travel receipts Million EUR 41 901 38 125 39 621 43 026 43 306 International passenger transport receipts Million EUR 5 745 4 593 5 176 5 451 5 884 1. Number of tourists at border. Source: Institute of Tourism Studies (IET) and Bank of Spain. 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989152 296
Table 3. Spain: Outbound tourism Unit 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total international departures.......... Overnight visitors (tourists) Thousand 11 229 12 017 12 379 13 347 12 185 Same-day visitors (excursionists).......... Total international expenditure Million EUR 18 467 16 294 17 162 16 955 16 958 International travel expenditure Million EUR 13 834 12 086 12 663 12 349 11 911 International passenger transport expenditure Million EUR 4 633 4 208 4 499 4 606 5 047 Source: Institute of Tourism Studies (IET) and Bank of Spain. 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989171 Table 4. Spain: Enterprises in tourism Number of establishments 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total tourism enterprises 430 560 433 634 426 977 426 993 425 719 Tourism industries.......... Accommodation services for visitors 1 22 603 23 079 22 924 23 288 23 393 Hotels and similar establishments.......... Food and beverage serving industry 2 266 615 267 597 266 690 264 146 262 420 Passenger transport 3 86 231 85 731 81 618 83 345 82 997 Air passenger transport.......... Railways passenger transport.......... Road passenger transport.......... Water passenger transport.......... Passenger transport supporting services.......... Transport equipment rental.......... Travel agencies and other reservation services industry 10 970 11 028 10 895 10 992 11 184 Cultural industry.......... Sports and recreation industry.......... Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods.......... Other country-specific tourism industries 44 141 46 199 44 850 45 222 45 725 Other industries.......... Note: Break in series. Since 2008, NACE Rev. 2 classification. 1. Includes hotels, campsites and other provision of short stay accommodation. 2. Includes restaurants, bars and canteens. 3. Break in series. Since 2008, excludes freight. Source: National Institute for Statistics. 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989190 297
Table 5. Spain: Employment in tourism Number of employees 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total tourism employment (direct) 2 193 514 2 143 119 2 120 404 2 132 034 2 039 255 Tourism industries.......... Accommodation services for visitors 1 1 452 534 1 421 182 1 370 266 1 391 942 1 322 138 Hotels and similar establishments.......... Food and beverage serving industry.......... Passenger transport 2, 3 332 380 329 247 331 056 321 592 303 433 Air passenger transport.......... Railways passenger transport.......... Road passenger transport.......... Water passenger transport.......... Passenger transport supporting services.......... Transport equipment rental.......... Travel agencies and other reservation services industry.......... Cultural industry.......... Sports and recreation industry.......... Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods.......... Other country-specific tourism industries.......... Other industries 4 408 600 392 689 419 081 418 503 413 683 Gender breakdown Male (% of total tourism employment) 52 53 54 54 55 Female (% of total tourism employment) 48 47 47 46 45 Note: Break in series. Since 2008, NACE Rev. 2 classification. 1. Hotels and restaurants. 2. Break in series. Since 2008, excludes freight. 3. Includes travel agencies and tour operators. 4. Other services. Source: Labour Force Survey (EPA). 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989209 Table 6. Spain: Internal tourism consumption Million EUR, 2008 Domestic tourism consumption Inbound tourism consumption Internal tourism consumption Total 53 923 51 736 120 889 Consumption products...... Tourism characteristic products...... Accommodation services for visitors 16 513 12 464 32 445 Food and beverage serving services 14 506 13 529 28 764 Passenger transport services 6 656 7 107 20 013 Air passenger transport services...... Railways passenger transport services...... Road passenger transport services...... Water passenger transport services...... Passenger transport supporting services...... Transport equipment rental services...... Travel agencies and other reservation services 3 384 418 6 043 Cultural services 1 1 557 1 272 3 748 Sports and recreation services...... Country-specific tourism characteristic goods...... Country-specific tourism characteristic services...... Other consumption products 11 307 16 946 29 876 Tourism connected products...... Non-tourism related consumption products...... Non-consumption products...... 1. Includes recreation and other entertainment services. Source: National Institute for Statistics, Tourism Satellite Account. 1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932989228 298
For more information Spain Ministry for Industry, Energy and Tourism Spain Institute for Tourism Turespaña Spain official tourism portal Spanish Institute for Tourism Studies Spanish National Institute for Statistics www.minetur.gob.es www.tourspain.es www.spain.info www.iet.tourspain.es www.ine.es 299