The point of economic success of affluence that tourism has reached in some of the most sought-after destinations in Spain "should lead us to take a short break to reflect on how to plan from now on a management where social sustainability is a priority axis of growth".
Based on the excellent results in 2023, "we should not be obsessed with continuing to grow aimlessly and only by volume, but by added value, which allows us to segment and aspire to the best of our demand", focusing more on exciting residents to attract the most profitable and desirable visitors, according to the executive vice president of Exceltur, José Luis Zoreda.
Born in Palma de Mallorca, José Luis Zoreda holds a degree in Economics from the University of Barcelona, a Master's in Business Administration from IESE in Barcelona and a P.M.D. (Program for Management Development) from Harvard Business School.
Against saturation
The approach must evolve from merely breaking attendance records to achieving "the greatest collective satisfaction, of all those involved in this extensive tourism network, to achieve the best sense of belonging, welcome and the greatest predisposition to work in this sector, being able to do things with greater experiential added value, since competing only on price, we have to leave it to others", he said in an interview with EFE.
"We do not want an excess of tourism or tourism of excesses", as it generates multiple negative externalities such as the progressive seasonal saturation of certain urban and holiday destinations that citizens complain about or gentrification, which implies the depersonalization of the neighborhood, given the loss of its habitability.
Citizens feel that they are being expelled from where they were born, lived or would like to live because they cannot pay the rent or the price of the apartment; the greengrocer or the hairdresser has disappeared, or the building is full of unknown people who go up and down incessantly, which generates enormous citizen insecurity and therefore multiple accusations that the entire tourism sector, even if it has nothing to do with it, is the final cause of it.
For employment
Another aspect that the sector must take into account to improve its reputation is to try to redirect the image that labels tourism entrepreneurs as "bad employers", which, in Zoreda's opinion, does not correspond to reality.
In 2023, the sector has reduced its temporality to 8% almost 30 points compared to 2019, with 91% of permanent contracts and half full-time and generating "no less than 17% of all employment in Spain", aspects that perhaps have not been well communicated to citizens, he stressed.
Citizens also accuse the sector of generating environmental problems, either by building more than necessary, or by managing water and waste worse than would be desirable, or because airplanes pollute "like no one else in the world".
For Zoreda, many of the accusations, real or unreal or invented, are not correct, without prejudice to the fact that in some cases there are clear areas for improvement.
Channeling the opinion of the neighbors
On the other hand, residents of many of the places where the sector operates complain that they have not had any opportunity to express their opinion on the tourism development in their town, if it was what they wanted and if the future is what they aspire to.
Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary to open "a stable dialogue window in the desirable and more effective public-private governance so that a qualified and constructive voice of the neighbors can have a place to express what they feel would be the most desirable future development and tourism positioning for their locality".
Zoreda hopes that the forum organized by Exceltur next Tuesday, on the eve of Fitur, with the title "The tourism we all want", will be a platform for reflection for an eventual subsequent launch of an initiative that promotes jointly with the main business associations and public officials a new tourist-country vision towards that new horizon of social sustainability that generates the most shared value among all.
