Abta strikes agreement with Spain on growth in Benidorm, Calvià, Lloret de Mar and Seville

Spain has struck an agreement with Abta covering four destinations in a bid to shape tourism growth and identify opportunities as well as solutions to “challenges”.

 

A memorandum of understanding was signed in Madrid by Spain’s ministry of industry and tourism, Abta and the mayors of Benidorm, Calvià, Lloret de Mar and Seville.

 

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “This partnership supports a shared ambition to ensure tourism in [Spain] delivers the right balance for local people and a great experience for visitors, by looking at challenges such as seasonality, visitor concentration and environmental impact.”

 

The four destinations in the project will act as pilot destinations, helping to identify and test approaches that could be introduced elsewhere in Spain and internationally.

 

The project will include monitoring tourism flows from the UK, including visitor numbers, spending patterns, length of stay and visitor satisfaction; understanding residents’ perceptions of tourism and identifying ways to enhance the benefits tourism brings to local communities; and supporting efforts to reduce seasonality and improve the distribution of visitor demand throughout the year.

 

It will also look at ways to spread tourism benefits more widely across destinations and local economies, while sharing best practice in visitor flow management, climate change adaptation and tourism decarbonisation.

 

Abta will work with the UK travel trade to ensure tour operators and other travel businesses contribute to “practical, scalable solutions”.

 

The agreement, which aligns with Spain’s Tourism Strategy 2030, establishes a non-binding framework for cooperation over an initial two-year period, with the option to extend for a further two years by mutual agreement.

 

The agreement remains open to the future participation of additional Spanish destinations.

 

Manuel Butler, director of the Spanish Tourist Office UK, welcomed the project.

 

“Since assuming office at the Spanish Tourist Office in 2021, our strategy has been to work closely with the UK travel industry to develop a new model of tourism with sustainability at its very heart, encouraging collaboration between private and public sector,” he said.

 

“I’m delighted that today our efforts culminate in this MoU with Abta that formalises Spain and the UK’s desire to build an equitable and successful tourism for generations to come.”

 

Rosario Sánchez, Spain’s secretary of state for tourism, said: “Spain and the UK helped shape modern tourism in the 1960s. Today we share a responsibility to build a more sustainable model for the future. 

 

“The UK market has a unique relationship with Spain and we believe there is enormous value in bringing together destinations, government and the travel industry to share knowledge, data and practical solutions that can help shape the future of tourism.”

 

Spain’s minister for industry and tourism, Jordi Hereu, said the alliance represents an important step forward in tourism governance and sustainable destination management.

 

“Spain is committed to a new generation of tourism policy that is sustainable, balanced and beneficial for residents and visitors,” he said.

 

“Working with Abta and our destinations strengthens our ability to manage tourism through data, innovation and collaboration.”

 

Spain’s Tourism Strategy 2030 aims to support the transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and digitally enabled tourism model “capable of continuing to generate prosperity, employment and wellbeing in destinations across Spain”.