Urban regeneration, strategic planning and conflict management in tourist destinations. The case of Calpe

La dimensión territorial y medioambiental es un hecho determinante en la configuración y competitividad de los destinos turísticos. La regeneración urbana es una herramienta fundamental para reestructurar destinos maduros, sin embargo, la envergadura y carácter estratégico de dichos proyectos provoca inevitablemente fricciones en el desempeño cotidiano de los agentes y usuarios afectados por las acciones que conllevan. En este contexto, la planificación estratégica y la gestión del conflicto devienen fundamentales para el éxito de los proyectos. Este artículo expone la experiencia de regeneración urbana de Calpe, a través de un ambicioso proyecto desarrollado entre 2008 y 2012 cofinanciado entre el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) y el Ayuntamiento de Calpe, desde el punto de vista de la Dirección del proyecto, sacando a relucir los logros obtenidos así como las principales dificultades para su consecución

Sostenibilidad inteligente: una nueva perspectiva en el debate del turismo sostenible

This work tries to contribute to closing the existing gap in the relationship between sustainability and smartness, patent both in the field of research and in the management of cities and tourist destinations. The points in common between the concepts of sustainability and smartness applied to the management of tourist destinations are analyzed, as well as the critical factors that hinder its practical application, as a starting point to move towards a synergistic model for sustainable tourism destinations, called Smart Sustainability. This proposal is based on a true governance of the destination and is aimed at taking advantage of the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs) for a more efficient and sustainable management.Este trabajo trata de contribuir a cerrar la brecha existente en la relación entre sostenibilidad e inteligencia, patente tanto en el ámbito de la investigación como en el de la gestión de ciudades y destinos turísticos. Se analizan los puntos en común entre los conceptos de sostenibilidad e inteligencia aplicados a la gestión de los destinos turísticos, así como los factores críticos que dificultan su aplicación práctica, como punto de partida para avanzar hacia un modelo sinérgico para los destinos turísticos sostenibles e inteligentes, denominado "Smart Sustainability". Esta propuesta está basada en una verdadera gobernanza del destino y está orientada a aprovechar las oportunidades que ofrecen las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (ICTs) para una gestión más eficiente y sostenible

La situación de la actividad turística en España: ante nuevos récords y retos

El sector turístico español ha jugado un papel clave como motor de crecimiento económico y catalizador de la recuperación de la economía nacional, resultando estratégico en una economía de servicios como la española. En este sentido, el papel del sector público se ha traducido en programas de apoyo a las empresas turísticas, a los destinos y a los emprendedores. Por tanto, es necesario seguir avanzando en la introducción de mecanismos de respaldo al turismo para mantener y reforzar la posición de liderazgo internacional. La mayoría de los indicadores estadísticos sobre turismo: llegadas internacionales de turistas y gasto asociado, comportamiento del turismo nacional y pernoctaciones hoteleras confirman que durante el año 2016 se mantiene la fortaleza del sector turístico español, consolidándose como un sector en alza en la economía española, con repercusiones positivas sobre el empleo. El turismo, continuará según las previsiones batiendo record en los flujos turísticos recibidos y en el gasto. Sin embargo, el sector se enfrenta aún a algunos retos, entre los que cabe resaltar: la gestión y regulación del turismo colaborativo o P2P, la sostenibilidad del modelo turístico, la diferenciación de la oferta turística española respecto a competidores directos, adaptando dicha oferta a las nuevas necesidades de los turistas; es decir, apostar por propuestas de valor añadido soportadas en la innovación y el conocimiento, claves para mantener el liderazgo competitivo ya alcanzado por el sector turístico español

Wiki and blog as teaching tools in tourism higher education

The application of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to higher education is an essential element in the improvement of open and flexible teaching–learning. This is particularly important for students of tourism, a sector in which the relationship with technological processes and their everyday use is increasing. This article describes the experience of students of an “Introduction to Economics” in a tourism degree that was involved in this initiative. It is based on the information provided by a quantitative and qualitative survey to obtain the start profile of students, gender differences and mainly the attitude of students towards the use of the wiki and blog as educational tools. As a result, it is highlighted that the implementation of these technological teaching tools increases the interest and engagement of students with the subject

Reassessment of the economic impact of popular festivals of tourist projection through metadata from mobile telephony: Calp, an example of application

Los estudios de impacto económico se han venido basando tradicionalmente en metodologías clásicas como el análisis input‑output o diferentes tipologías de multiplicadores. La irrupción de las nuevas tecnologías y la posibilidad de captación y explotación de grandes volúmenes de datos (big data) brinda nuevas posibilidades para el análisis de estos eventos. Este artículo presenta una aplicación pionera de estas metodologías, reestimando el impacto económico generado por dos fiestas populares de un destino turístico consolidado, Calp (Alicante), a través de metadatos provenientes de la telefonía móvil. Los resultados revelan que mediante estas técnicas innovadoras se afinan los impactos evitando los riesgos de sobreestimación asociados a las técnicas clásicas de análisis económico.Economic impact studies have traditionally been based on classical methodologies such as input‑output analysis or multipliers. The emergence of new technologies and the possibility of capturing and exploitation of big data offers new possibilities for the analysis of these events. This article presents a pioneering application of these methodologies to two popular festivals of a consolidated tourist destination, Calp (Alicante), using metadata obtained from mobile phone devices. The results reveal that through these innovative techniques the impacts are refined avoiding the risks of overestimation associated with the classical techniques

Economic crises and tourism competitiveness: A Markov swtiching regression approach

Authors discuss the effects that economic crises generate on the global market shares of tourism destinations, through a series of potential transmission mechanisms based on the main economic competitiveness determinants identified in the previous literature using a non-linear approach. Specifically a Markov Switching Regression approach is used to estimate the effect of two basic transmission mechanisms: reductions of internal and external tourism demands and falling investment

Innovative Tourism Clusters: Myth or Reality? Empirical Evidence from Benidorm

Paper submitted to TCVT3 Bozen/Bolzano, 10-12 April 2014, International workshop on Tourists as Consumers, Visitors, TravellersThis paper analyses the applicability of the cluster concept to tourist destinations, taking Benidorm as the reference for study: a destination on the Mediterranean coast of Spain which has attained a high degree of competitive success with the sun and sand product in which it has specialized. The main result obtained is that Benidorm's success is not derived from or favoured by the existence of a cluster in the destination, since important elements are present that prevent affirmation of its existence. This paper is the preliminary result of a research project that has been carried out within the framework of the project "Methodology, criteria and impementation of the cluster theory in consolidated tourism areas: innovation, competitiveness and territorial synergies" under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011 supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.This research has been carried out within the framework of the project “Methodology, criteria and implementation of the cluster theory in consolidated tourism areas: innovation, competitiveness and territorial synergies” under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011 supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation

Calp, hacia la sostenibilidad a través de la inteligencia

En este artículo se analiza la aplicación del concepto de destino turístico inteligente en Calp, un caso representativo de los destinos turísticos del litoral Mediterráneo español. El análisis efectuado pone de manifiesto que el concepto de destino turístico inteligente puede suponer la primera oportunidad real de hacer operativo el concepto de sostenibilidad turística. También en los destinos de masas. Esta defensa se basa en el hecho que, por primera vez, el uso intensivo de la tecnología que conlleva la implantación de un destino turístico inteligente, va a permitir la medición continua de aspectos vinculados a la sostenibilidad que hasta el momento y en ausencia de dicha tecnología, eran difíciles o simplemente imposibles de medir, y por tanto, gestionar.This article describes the application of the concept of the intelligent tourist destination using Calp – a representative case of the tourist destinations of the Spanish Mediterranean coastline – as a case study. The analysis performed shows that the concept of intelligent tourist destination could be the first real opportunity to make operational the concept of tourism sustainability, also in mass tourism destinations. The rationale for this argument is based on the fact that, for the first time, the intensive use of the technology that entails the implementation of an intelligent tourist destination, will allow the continuous measurement of aspects related to sustainability that until now and in the absence of this technology, were difficult or simply impossible to measure, and therefore manage

Obliquity in Tourism Economics: Smart and Sustainable Tourist Destinations

Obliquity describes the process of achieving complex objectives indirectly. The recent emergence of the concept and paradigm of intelligent or smart tourist destinations has given rise to a proliferation of initiatives to convert many tourism destinations into smart tourism destinations. Such initiatives are often driven by publicly and privately financed technologically-based companies, In theory, the concept of the smart tourist destination includes different levels of action in the environmental, social and technological fields, directed at enhancing the satisfaction and experience of tourists. However, in many practical applications of the concept, only the latter level is addressed, and the other dimensions are neglected. This article argues that smart tourism destinations represent the first real opportunity to make the concept of sustainable tourism operational. This argument is based on the fact that, for the first time, the intensive use of technology involved in implementing a smart tourism destination will enable the continuous measurement of aspects related to sustainability which, until now, in the absence of this technology, were difficult or impossible to measure, and therefore, manage

Physics in tourism: Modeling destination growth

Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of tourist destination saturation or overtourism was a hot research topic among tourism researchers. The debate was focused on the definition and measurement of the phenomenon and on establishing the conceptual models that explain it. The objective of this note is to propose the use of Newton's Second Motion Law to model the growth of destinations and its derivation in potential issues of overtourism. This theory allows to incorporate more adequately relevant concepts in this context such as resistance to growth than other standard theories in the existing literature