Overtourism needs to be tackled jointly by the Spanish and UK travel industries, delegates at this year’s Aito Overseas Conference have heard.
The message came during a sustainability panel debate at the conference in the lesser-known city of Valladolid in Spain, described as one of the country’s “hidden gems”.
Manuel Butler, director of the Spanish Tourist Office in the UK, said: “We have to face the responsibility of tourism. Tourism is a social right but there is no easy solution.
“We have to build a solution between the Britons and Spaniards, we have to think together about the measures we take and see it an holistic way. We have lost the point of tourism, which is to meet other people.”
Butler called for a “new business model” to be created with careful consideration given to the all stakeholders.
Comparing Spain’s tourism growth as a child becoming an adult, he stressed the importance of mature destinations now having to reinvent themselves.
“Tourism is now an adult and has responsibilities. We have got to get all the stakeholders involved. The key element is that we have to build a new business and collaboration between the British and Spanish industries will be key to invent this,” he said.
Also speaking on the panel, Experience Travel Group co-founder and director Sam Clark said there were “huge opportunities and challenges” for tour operators to help tourist boards battle overtourism.
“For us as specialist operators, there are huge opportunities to show people places where people welcome you. It’s up to us to help curate that experience,” he said, adding: “We create experiences on the ground, that needs to be done in collaboration with communities and people in the community need to see the benefit [of tourism]. There needs to be a reciprocal exchange.”
In Spain, cities are already starting to take action individually to tackle overtourism, said Butler, with Barcelona (pictured) recently announcing a crackdown on apartment owners renting out their accommodation to tourists from November 2028.
“There are new rules in different parts of Spain where there are limits being imposed on tourist flats or tourism taxes are being adopted or increased. Cities can decide what measures they want to impose,” he said.
Following high profile protests in parts of Spain on overtourism, the tourist board has also launched the campaign ‘Spain For All’ with another themed ‘Stay Longer, Discover More’ to launch next year.
Speaking afterwards, Butler outlined plans to bring representatives from eight different municipalities in Spain to the UK in the spring of next year to talk to the trade about their sustainability plans.
A special event will be held for the trade in London where representatives from Torremolinos; Loret de Mar; Benidorm; Arona; Adeje; Alvia; San Bartolomé de Tirajana; and Salou, will meet UK tour operators.