Impacto del territorio en la rentabilidad de los hoteles vacacionales españolesun análisis comparativo de las principales Comunidades Autónomas y puntos turísticos de la costa mediterránea y archipiélagos canario y balear

Abstract

It cannot be doubted that Spain is one of the countries most visited by tourists in the world, but it is also true that not all the regions in the country receive the same flow of tourists, and that the type of visitor varies from one region to another. In view of this fact, this study analyzes the structure of the tourist industry in the main tourist regions in Spain (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Region), in order to find the relevant factors in each of them explaining the differences in the numbers of tourists received and their behaviour, measured through variables such as average duration of stay and average expenditure. Official data show that the two regions receiving most tourists are the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. However, there are other indexes, such as the performance indicators (RevPar) or the average stay, which are higher in the Balearic Islands and in the Canary Islands, the regions which, alongside Andalusia, have the highest average expenditure per visitor. For our purpose, two theoretical models are used which have been empirically validated in many studies. One of them is Porter’s Diamond model, which helps us to explain why the tourist industry is more competitive in some regions than in others (and also in Spain, compared to other countries). It also helps us to determine the competitive advantage or relative position of each region in Spain. The other is the Theory of Tourist Districts, which may tell us why the tourist industry tends to develop in very specific geographical areas, such as Benidorm in the Valencian Autonomous Region, Salou, Lloret de Mar and Barcelona in Catalonia, Calvià and Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Adeje in the Canary Islands, or Seville and Marbella in Andalusia.