Contemporary Issues in Tourism

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TOURISM
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TOURISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TOURISM
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
General Tourism Issues...............................................................................................................2
Tourist Market Potential..............................................................................................................3
Transport Development...............................................................................................................4
Accommodation Development....................................................................................................5
Crisis and Risk Management.......................................................................................................6
Social Media Influence................................................................................................................7
Visitors Experience Development...............................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Travel and tourism sectors have always been one of the most important sectors for
economic development. This sector contributes a major portion of GDP in most of the countries
across the world. The sector has now undertaken change on a large scale, which has resulted in
some severe impacts. There have been changes in environmental and technological sectors that
have either positively or negatively affected the sector. The purpose of the paper is to identify
contemporary issues related tourism sector in Spain, the largest country in Southern Europe. It is
the sixth-largest country in Europe in terms of population. Spain tourism is the third-largest
contributor in terms of national income and economic development. It is a very renowned
destination for vacations. It attracts several tourists from France, Germany, the United Kingdom,
Ireland, United States, Italy and many other countries. Spain has become the second biggest
tourist industry in the world. This data states the beauty of the country but at the same time
indicates the volume that the industry serves. Serving a large volume puts pressure on the
country in regard to the environment, transportation, accommodation, and security. The
following paragraph deals with issues related to Spain’s tourist market potential, transportation,
accommodation, crisis management, social media segment and experience of visitors.
Discussion
General Tourism Issues
Spain is the country that is visited by many tourists across the world very frequently. It is
the second most visited country in the world. Spain has always flourished as a tourism industry,
but in the last few years, it has faced several issues. The year 2019 had been very critical for
Spain. It was a year of economic challenges. The global economic crisis took place because of

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uncertain economic policies, rising debts, protectionism and some abrupt adjustment in the
Chinese economy (Bianchi and Selwyn 2017). The growth rate of the Spanish economy has been
very less. Tourism is no longer a source of recovery for this economic slowdown in Spain. The
number of German and British tourists has fallen in recent years because of global economic
policies. The collapse of Thomas Cook has also affected the tourism sector to a great extent. In
terms of tourism, Spain and Britain's economy are intertwined intimately. Thus the fall of
Thomas Cook has affected the local and regional segments of Spain and the collapse will prevent
millions of visitors from visiting Spain, thereby leading a loss of millions of euros. Brexit also
has an impact on Spanish tourism. It will affect the tourists who afforded low-cost holidays in
Spain (Perles-Ribes, Ramón-Rodríguez and Ortuño Padilla 2019). The depreciation of the pound
will make the holiday packages more expensive for low-income group tourists.
Tourist Market Potential
The change in the political and economic condition of the country has brought about a
great deal of attention in this area. Currently, tourists are not only limited to the beaches and suns
lights but instead, they are also interested in culture, language, history, archaeology and so on.
The difference in various regions and characteristics of the residents and non-residents are also
some aspects that the tourists observe. If people have visited a similar place for more than
several times, then the place starts losing its importance (Van Niekerk 2017). Several places are
most visited in Spain like - The Alhambra and Generalife Gardens, Barcelona, The Great
Mosque, The Prado and Paseo del Artes, San Lorenzo de El Escorial and the list goes on. Mass
tourism at certain times of the year is affecting the towns, countryside, beaches and culture as
well. The local areas are getting polluted by frequent visitors and most of the old places are not
offering any new activities or programs for the tourists. It is, therefore, necessary for Spain to

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think about a potential area where it can now attract their tourist and at the same time manage
tourism sustainably.
Spain can dive into the luxury market and upgrade its image. It can try to catch up with
the tourism market provided by France and Italy. Investing more on the luxury part will reduce
mass tourism and at the same time, will ensure proper cash inflow in the industry. Luxurious
tourists demand high end experiences and hence experience-based tourism packages are to be
provided to the tourists. Spain has always been rich in olive oil. It can also invest more in the
olive farms and sell high-end oils to the tourists for providing them with an “oil tourism”
experience. Luxurious clients are also very much sensitive to security. Recent political instability
has led to insecurities and hence proper attention should be given on the security and safety
segment of the tourists to ensure safe travel.
Transport Development
In terms of transportation, Spain has always been favorable for tourists. It has a wealth of
transportation but for a tourist, having a local Spanish help in traveling around. This is an issue
as one needs to take the help of local people every time while visiting any place. Tourists are
unaware of proper fairs and distances and the easiest and cheapest ways to travel to their required
destination within Spain. Spain has several travel opportunities like buses, metro, Uber, taxis,
rental cars, flights and Renfe, the national railway. However, Spain is facing a problem in road
transportation. There have been problems regarding freight transportation and its coordination
and functioning in most of the big cities and metropolitan areas. One of the most damaging
factors of road transportation in Spain is gridlocks. Although there are metro and rail options
available for all major cities, yet navigating small local regions becomes difficult because of
limited transportation access to those areas and the language barrier. Taxi strikes have taken a

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heavy toll in Barcelona and Madrid. All these issues put up a serious problem for tourists. They
might face problem in traveling inter cities and can be misguided as well. Improvement of the
access to the local areas should be focused upon to attract tourists and the buses can be provided
with navigation systems attached to the seats and translator earphones so that the tourists can
easily understand the destination properly. It is now necessary for Spain to achieve and secure
the growth of the transportation industry with technological advancements for addressing the
tourists in a better way (Ratten et al. 2019).
Accommodation Development
Spanish accommodation is internationally renowned because of its quality services at a
cheap rate. However, mass tourism has affected the accommodation sector. The economic and
political instability has put pressure on the low-income group tourists because of the depreciation
of their currency. Spain has several accommodation options like – hotels, guest houses, hostels,
apart-hotels, Parador hotels, apartments, agro-tourism and so on. There are over 16,000 hotel
establishments in Spain having features to accommodate people with disabilities and has about
more than 150000 apartments. However, there are issues relating to hotel facilities. There are
many cases where hotels are unable to provide proper hot water. Problems with electricity and
water are common in Spain's apartments. These issues have distracted the tourist. Airbnb has
acquired most of the hotels and apartments in Madrid and its neighboring areas, as well as some
in Barcelona and this, has pushed up the cost of rents. It has not only stopped low-income
tourists from getting those quality accommodations but also forced the locals to go away from
the city center. The practice of short term tourism by many people has made the surroundings
inhabitable for the local people. Legislation has been prepared to curb the practice of short term
accommodation. To manage the accommodation and environmental issues, Barcelona has also

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passed legislation to stop constructing hotels and providing new licenses for new tourist
accommodation rentals until the area becomes manageable. Barcelona also fined Airbnb for
unlicensed accommodation. Therefore, the accommodation sector has impacted both the tourists
as well as the local region but the recent law seems fitting for taking things under control.
Crisis and Risk Management
Most of the tourism-related crises are because of breaches in safety and security. As
previously mentioned the current political and economic condition in Spain has made security in
Spain questionable. The tourists are now afraid to visit the country because of political
instability. The current political and economic situation has also made sustainable development
questionable. The local people are also getting affected because of mass tourism and hence they
are also not negotiating properly with the tourists. The effects of the economic and political
transition do not have a neutral effect on the competitiveness of a country. Instead, this has a
negative impact. Competitiveness in terms of new destinations has also emerged that has reduced
the number of tourist in Spain (Campón-Cerro, Hernández-Mogollón and Alves 2017). Increased
competitiveness and lowered service quality. It has also raised concerns related to certain ethical
issues. The residents are suffering and they are also not willing to allow a huge number of
tourists at the same time. This state leads to the social security issue. The tourists are getting
afraid to visit the place because of such political and social instability. Petty crimes are very
common in Spain. A crime like bag-snatching is very common in areas like Barcelona and
Madrid. Scams are also a common issue. However, Spain has focused a lot on risk management
and is one of the safest places to visit. They try and identify the key factors acting as threats and
are modifying those factors through cost-effective approaches and sustainable means.

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Social Media Influence
A great amount of social revolution in the recent era is possible just by the influence of
social media. Activities on social networks affect millions of users just in Spain. If the whole
world is considered the figure shall be huge. People now a day’s keep visiting the internet before
going on any trips. There are several sites like Trip Advisor, Yelp and so on that provide data
related to the experience of people who have already visited the place. These websites also
provide data relating to cheap accommodations available and dos and don’ts in detail. The
tourists can now easily assess their best options even before visiting. Thus the contents on the
websites make the tourists make decisions relating to their travel. Graphic contents on Facebook
and Instagram by many visitors promote the destination for free. Social media is responsible for
55% of flight bookings, 77% cruises and travel packages around 73%. There has been a great
change in the tourists' landscape in Spain as they decide upon their trips based on the photos and
opinions shared in social media. Thus Spain has also introduced several websites stating its
major attractions with beautiful images and contents.
Visitors Experience Development
Spain has always tried to provide the best experience to the visitors. It is a place with a
great historical background as well as a huge cultural heritage. Festivals are very common in
Spain. Incredible landscapes and Crystal clear beaches are also major attractions. However, the
recent political and economic instability has created some unrest in society. Thus the visitor
experience in recent time is getting hampered (Alabau-Montoya and Ruiz-Molina 2019).
Frequent strikes and environmental littering are hampering visitor experience. There are no new
festivals also. Spain should also focus on creating some new festivals and entertainment

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activities to attract customers for more than one time. The better the resources, societal condition
and entertainment, the better will be the visitor experience.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion that Spain is a great place to visit, but the
recent fall of Thomas Cook and Brexit has impacted many market segments in tourism itself. It
has been seen from the above discussion that Spain is a country with beautiful resources but the
recent instability has also resulted in environmental issues. Mass tourism has affected the local
regions largely and this has resulted in protests from the residents. In terms of accommodation,
there are certain issues relating to water and gas supply and at the same time, Airbnb also
provided short tourism accommodations illegally. All these led to further instability and strikes.
The transportation system is having issues in the local areas and taxi drivers have started to
protest more often. All these activities have impacted the security concerns for the travelers
thereafter affecting their visit and stay. Apart from this Spain also have several sites that help
people in making trip decisions. Tourists can now compare several feedbacks from several
websites and then plan their vacations accordingly. Spain has also been great in creating visitor
experience but it can be concluded that it needs to create new areas of entertainment and focus
on luxury segments as well to create unique tourist experience and sustainable tourism
development.

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References
Alabau-Montoya, J. and Ruiz-Molina, M.E., 2019. Enhancing visitor experience with war
heritage tourism through information and communication technologies: evidence from Spanish
Civil War museums and sites. Journal of Heritage Tourism, pp.1-11.
Bianchi, R.V. and Selwyn, T., 2017. Politics and tourism in the Mediterranean region. In
Routledge Handbook of Mediterranean Politics (pp. 279-291). Routledge.
Campón-Cerro, A.M., Hernández-Mogollón, J.M. and Alves, H., 2017. Sustainable improvement
of competitiveness in rural tourism destinations: The quest for tourist loyalty in Spain. Journal of
Destination Marketing & Management, 6(3), pp.252-266.
Perles-Ribes, J.F., Ramón-Rodríguez, A.B. and Ortuño Padilla, A., 2019. Brexit announcement:
Immediate impact on British tourism in Spain. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 60(2), pp.97-103.
Ratten, V., Braga, V., Àlvarez-García, J. and del Rio, M.D.L.C., 2019. Tourism innovation:
Technology, sustainability and creativity. Routledge.
Van Niekerk, M., 2017. Contemporary issues in events, festivals and destination management.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.