Nature tourism in Spain. New realities, new models of sustainable tourism

Abstract

Tourism in Spain is one of the engines of the country with a contribution to GDP in 2019 of 12.4% (INE, 2020), a percentage that has been increasing every year, until the arrival of Covid-19, causing Spain is positioned as a preferential destination for tourists. Spain has always been considered a good destination to enjoy summer vacations, due to its weather and the services it offers, as well as the infrastructures that facilitate these accesses. This tourism occurs above all on the Mediterranean coast and on the Islands, because the motivation of "sun and beach" continues to be one of the main reasons that condition tourists to visit our country. Although Spain is much more than that, it has other values and potential resources, in inland areas, still pending to emerge, as is the case of nature tourism, characteristic of rural areas, which, with the necessary measures, it can be promoted to mean an increase in the arrival of visitors to these new destinations, which could condition some positive aspects such as the growth of the local economy and avoid the depopulation of rural areas. Nature tourism is an added value for tourism in Spain which, with good management and organization of the means, can become a key point of tourism in the country. For all of the above, this study deals with the analysis of the set of natural resources that Spain has, presenting them as ideal places for carrying out tourist activities in said environments, so that, with good management and promotion of the They can increase tourism in areas that have the necessary characteristics to promote nature tourism, and sustainable.