Mature tourist destinations in Spain are those resorts where
mass tourism occurred primarily on the Mediterranean coastline in the 1950's and
60's. At the end of the 1980's they had become saturated with tourists and no
longer offered new attractions. Quality of tourist services had diminished with
the rise of competition and income was decreasing. This is an unsustainable
process, and will lead to economic, environmental and social problems.
The processes leading to tourism maturity
The beaches of the Mediterranean continue to be the world's
principal focus of tourism, in spite of the competition presented since the late
1980's by new destinations (the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, etc.)
and the development of new forms of tourism (increase in rural tourism, urban
tourism, etc.), which offer new and different activities from the sun and beach
of the traditional destinations.
The mass model of sun and beach tourism which is characteristic
of the Mediterranean coastline has caused both the spectacular urban,
demographic and economic growth of small coastal towns once inhabited by farming
and fishing families who eventually came to make their living from tourism, and
the increasing degradation of their natural setting.
This degradation is due, on one hand, to the enormous
proliferation of tourism infrastructures and facilities, both of accommodation
(hotels, apartments, second-home estates, campsites) and of complementary
services for tourists (bars, restaurants, discotheques, golf courses, water
parks, etc.), and on the other hand to the effects deriving from the presence of
thousands of visitors year after year (contamination, overexploitation of
resources, etc..) These impacts, together with the obvious ones caused by the
local population, have resulted in the modification over the years of the
coastal scenery of the Mediterranean, with grey concrete gradually replacing
green trees.
All of the mature tourist destinations present the same general
characteristic features. These are towns with a double identity: in winter they
are peaceful places with little population, and in summer they are filled with
people and frenetic activity
Causes of the decline of coastal tourism in Catalonia
The main causes can be summarised as follows:
1. The new trends in tourism demand in recent years, with a
preference for:
individually-planned holidays rather than package tours. People
want to decide for themselves what to do and not to be limited to the plans made
by tour operators;
experiencing the 'real' Spain, rather than the artificial mass
tourist experience;
visiting areas that have not been environmentally damaged;
activity-based holidays. Many tourists no longer seek just
sunbathing and nightlife but want complementary activities (excursions, cultural
visits, sports, etc..)
2. The increasing degradation of the natural environment and of
the quality of tourist services of the traditional or mature destinations.
3. The appearance of new emerging destinations, with a newer
offer, of quality, and at competitive prices.
Solutions
In the face of this situation the mature destinations can opt
for various solutions:
1. Continued decline.
2. Stagnation, due to the application of piecemeal measures
which do not attack the root of the problems but only the most evident effects.
3. A radical approach, leading to the adoption of measures
which even entail a new tourism model, based on sustainability and the
integration of tourism with the environment, the economy and the local
population.
Mature tourist destinations correspond to the 'stagnation'
stage of the Tourism Product Life Cycle Model. more
