The role of rural tourism and ecotourism in the new scenario spain faces regarding the decline of its inbound tourism in 2018

  • Pilar Gago de Santos Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid (España)
Keywords: Spain, rural and ecoourism legal framework, inbound tourism decline

Abstract

After almost a decade of continuous growth of inbound tourism in Spain, the data of the first semester of 2018 alert of a significant fall of the inbound tourism in Spain. Before addressing a deeper analysis of the underlying causes that explain this fall, analysts point out a recovery of the sun and sand destinations of the Mediterranean Basin (mainly Turkey, Maghreb and Mashrek countries). In this context, the purpose of this paper is, first of all, to review the conceptual framework on which Spain since 2014 has developed its product "rural tourism" and "ecotourism" (as a subset of the main product) delimiting the concepts of rural tourism and ecotourism as conceived in 2014 and how they have evolved following the first two Ecotourism Congresses held in Daimiel and Cáceres. Secondly, we describe in a preliminary way the challenges the Spanish tourism market currently faces and the role to play by the rural tourism in a scenario where the development of the rural product could be an alternative to the sun and sea demand.

Author Biography

Pilar Gago de Santos, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid (España)

Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid (España)

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Published
2019-05-02
How to Cite
Gago de Santos, P. (2019, May 2). The role of rural tourism and ecotourism in the new scenario spain faces regarding the decline of its inbound tourism in 2018. Journal of Tourism and Heritage Research, 2(1), 204-219. Retrieved from https://jthr.es/index.php/journal/article/view/47