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

Measuring and Monitoringthe Sustainability of Tourismat Regional Level in Spain INDICATOR FRAMEWORK AND COMPILATION GUIDE OECD Studies on Tourism Measuring and Monitoringthe Sustainability of Tourismat Regional Level in Spain INDICATOR FRAMEWORK AND COMPILATION GUIDE This document was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can inno way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty overany territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. OECD (2024),Measuring and Monitoring the Sustainability of Tourism at Regional Level in Spain: Indicator Framework andCompilation Guide, OECD Studies on Tourism, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/7f116e7f-en. ISBN 978-92-64-70327-8 (print)ISBN 978-92-64-65869-1 (PDF)ISBN 978-92-64-91633-3 (HTML)ISBN 978-92-64-82356-3 (epub) OECD Studies on TourismISSN 2223-9790 (print)ISSN 2223-9804 (online) Photo credits:Cover © Juana Mari Moya, Anton Petrus, mmeee, Alexander Spatari / Getty Images Plus Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html.© OECD 2024 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Attribution– you must cite the work.Translations– you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text:In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and thetranslation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.Adaptations– you must cite the original work and add the following text:This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed inthis adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.Third-party material– the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and forany claims of infringement.You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shallbe Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one. Foreword Tourism is one of the cornerstones of Spain’s economy, and an important driver of regional development.However, monitoring tourism policies and measuring the sustainability of tourism are major challenges forregions in Spain. Regional governments lack the tools, frameworks, and capacity to measure theeconomic, social and environmental impact of tourism activities, and to monitor the effectiveness of policyinterventions to manage tourism development sustainably.The OECD has supported four Spanish regions–Andalusia, Catalonia, Navarra, and the Region of Valencia–to develop and pilot a system of indicatorsto measure and monitor the sustainability of tourism.This work was funded by the European Union via theTechnical SupportInstrument and implemented by the OECD,in co-operation with the EuropeanCommission.The technical support project was undertaken tosupport countries’ efforts to implementreformsin response to theCovidpandemic,tobuild a more sustainable, resilient and digital tourismecosystemin Europe. Tourism in Spain has rebounded quickly from the Covid crisis in terms of touristnumbers and expenditure.While the pandemic has accelerated global discussions about the opportunityfor tourism to 'build back better', more work is needed toachieve tangible progress on moving towardsmore sustainable models of tourism. This report onMeasuring and monitoring the sustainability of tourism at regional level in Spaindraws onlessons learned from a series of fact-finding meetings and workshop, resulting inthe identification of a setof core priority issues and, in turn, selection of available indicators to monitor and manage them.The workcomplementsrecent and ongoing effortstomeasurethe sustainability of tourism at regional, national andinternational levels. Itbuildsonthese frameworks andgood practicesto develop indicators that take intoaccountthe unique characteristics of participating Spanish regions,whilst facilitating internationalcomparability. Chapter 1introduces the policy context and broad aims of this initiative.Chapter 2 provides an overviewof existing sustainability initiatives and indicator frameworks for tourismaround the globe. Chapter 3introduces thetailoredframework developed to measure and monitor t